Different Ways to Fall
by RavenNM
Summary: An AU where Felix stayed in Paris and begins to see the appeal of Marinette. But with a new school and the others remembering what he had done, it might not be so easy, especially with a certain liar trying to cause problems. Felinette with eventual Lila salt/minor Adrien salt/class redemption
1. Chapter 1

***A new MLB story, which I do not own. This one inspired by the comic strips by Zaheela, check them out! **

Felix couldn't have been any more annoyed if he had tried. His mother had found out about the whole incident with Adrien's video messages and she had been so disappointed that he would do such a thing. Normally, he wouldn't have even bothered pulling a stunt like that, never risk something blowing back on his mother. He had only wanted an excuse to go back to London quickly so he could snatch the ring from his uncle, make his mother happy, and be gone before the man even realized it was missing.

Now his mother had decided that he must be acting out from grief and needed a change of scenery, so she had asked his uncle to let him stay and finish out the school year with Adrien. To his utter shock, his uncle had agreed, with the stipulation that he attend school with Adrien as to not interrupt him while doing business, to which his mother agreed.

This now left him condemned to spend the next few months in Paris with Adrien and his friends. Even now, Adrien's bodyguard was driving them to a houseboat on the Seine where some of them had gathered to officially meet him. Adrien was prattling on about how he had spoken to all of them, that they knew that the whole incident had meant to be a practical joke on him, and they were willing to give Felix a second chance.

Today, he was going to be introduced to members of the band Kitty Section, one of the most absurd names for a band that he had heard of, one of the member's girlfriends, and Adrien's three closest friends: Nino, Alya, and Marinette. Not that he cared if any of them were interested in being friends, as they were all irrelevant in his eyes. However, he knew that any serious misbehavior would no doubt get back to his mother, and that was something he did care about.

He was introduced to everyone very quickly and, in his opinion, he had been correct in his initial evaluation of Adrien's friends. Felix was most sure of the girl, Marinette. She spent the majority of the introduction sighing and staring at his cousin, which he found extremely annoying. Why his uncle allowed such a blatant fan-girl that was only interested in his cousin's fame and looks to be friends with his son was beyond him. Just looking at her, there didn't seem to be anything note-worthy other than she was moderately attractive. That thought gave Felix the urge to enact his own little protest at his current situation. _And perhaps it will be entertaining to cause a bit of discord between Adrien and his friends. _

He waited for his cousin to finish leading him down the line before he was final in front of the pale girl in pigtails. "And this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she was my first official friend at school, even though we had a rocky start."

The girl gave a slight blush at Adrien's introduction, although it wasn't enough for his oblivious cousin to notice, before turning her attention to Felix. She gave him a kind smile as she extended her hand to him. "It's nice to officially meet you, Felix. Adrien has been really excited about you staying in Paris. I hope that we can be friends."

Taking her hand, he gave her a charming smile that had flustered and disarmed multiple girls in the past before leaning in a little closer to her face, causing her to blush again. _Just as I suspected, nothing but a fickle girl who will switch her crush at a moments notice, _he thought, not relenting his grip on her hand. "Has anyone told you that you are very cute?" He asked her. Without giving her the opportunity to respond, he leaned forward the meager distance between them and pressed his lips to hers.

Having let his eyes stay open so he could not only see her reaction, but everyone else's reactions, he became confused by what he saw and heard. There were the expected gasps of surprise. The boy named Luka seemed ready to rush over and separate the two of them, not surprising since he got the sense that the boy had feelings for Marinette. What confused him were the looks of total fear and horror that overtook most of their features. He even caught a glimpse of Nino hastily pulling Adrien back while barring his girlfriend, Alya, from approaching.

All of that occurred in the moment he kissed Marinette. Then there was a hard shove to his chest and a stinging pain that radiated from his left cheek that made his head snap sharply to the right. There was shock as Felix realized that he had been struck, followed by an eye-full of a teenage girl in, what appeared to be, a righteous fit of anger.

"YOU DISGUSTING CREEP! YOU PERVERT! HOW DARE YOU KISS ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! Do you even care how inappropriate that was? That could be my first kiss! I could have a boyfriend! GRR! It's guys like you that make good guys like Nino, Kim, and Ivan so protective of their girlfriends. Guys like you are the reason girls walk in groups wherever they go and why my mother taught me how to defend myself by the time I was ten!"

Embarrassed and in pain from being hit, Felix forgot to check his anger as he got back in her face. "You know what _I_ would consider inappropriate? Being struck without a good reason or warning. Listening to your righteous speech on sexism when all I did was kiss you once. The way you were smiling at me, you were practically asking for it."

He barely had time to hear the others muttering "uh-oh" before Marinette was moving. For many years, Felix had considered himself very skilled in evasion and hand-to-hand combat, he had even taken into account that Marinette mentioned being taught to fight by her mother. Yet he was still unprepared and he had moved himself too close to properly block her attack. She didn't strike him this time. Instead, she had spun him around and placed him into a very precarious position with his body leaning backwards over the railing of the boat, his feet off the deck, and his fingers barely able to reach one of the lower railings. As it were, if the angry girl released her grip on his tie or the fabric tore, he would be going head first into the Seine.

"Allow me to make something perfectly clear to you," she said in a cold voice that could rival his Uncle Gabriel when he was angry. "When you sent us that video and got not one, but _three_ of my friends akumatized, I would have been happy to never see you again. I was only willing to give you a second chance because Adrien is my friend and he asked me to. Then you had to ruin it. Adrien had faith in you, _his family_, then you had to make that faith and trust seem like nothing and it makes me feel really sad for him, especially for the future.

"_And,_ according to my mother, people who use the 'they were asking for it' excuse are the ones who will eventually go to jail for physical or sexual assault. And since it's clear that you don't have enough respect for your cousin or girls like me to check your inappropriate behavior, then you should think about how your actions reflect on the rest of your family. Do you want someone looking at your mother and thinking that your behavior is _her fault_? For her to be shamed for raising a son who doesn't understand personal boundaries?"

Thinking of his mother had a sobering effect him. What she would have said if she had seen what he'd done, kissing a girl who clearly hadn't wanted to be touched and then blaming her for his own actions. Thinking of that sad, heartbroken look on her face after everything that she had gone through, after losing his father... He could never do that to her.

Marinette seemed to have seen his expression change and realize that she had gotten her point across. There was a solid jerk to his tie and he was back on the deck, coughing for air as he quickly loosened the fabric to breathe. Everyone was staring at them, Alya had even gotten her phone out at some point and had no doubt recorded part of it, if not all of it. Glancing up at Marinette, she had her eyes closed as she inhaled and exhaled with controlled breaths to calm herself. When she finally opened her eyes, she plainly stated "I'm going home", before stomping down the plank and onto the street.

She had barely walked away before Luka cleared his throat. "I'm going to walk Marinette home," he said before hurrying after her. It seemed everyone realized without saying it, that he was going with her to calm her down so she wouldn't be akumatized rather than to protect her.

Felix couldn't help but stare after her as he regained his breath. That had been far from how he had expected her to react from his kiss. Melt at his feet, stutter and blush, kiss him back, maybe even become so embarrassed that she runs off. He never would have expected the skill she displayed at rendering him unable to fight back while speaking to him in a way that actually made him ashamed of his actions.

When he finally looked back at everyone else, he wasn't surprised to see that his cousin was still shell-shocked. He doubted that Marinette had ever done such a thing in front of him before. The others, however, looked at him with one very clear message in their eyes. That after what he had done and said… He had been asking for it.

**AN: This will be much longer than my previous MLB stories and will include Felinette pairing, Lila salt, minor Adrien salt followed by Adrien redemption, and finally some class redemption with Lila justice. I'm not going to say how all of it will happen, but I will be posting the chapters pretty quickly (I hope) so please enjoy! Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

***The story that I do not own continues with a little salt to satisfy your tastes. **

After a short trip back to England with his mother to collect some personal belongings, and a tearful goodbye on his mother's part, Felix had returned to Paris to spend the next few months living with his cousin and uncle. _Yay… note the sarcasm._ Although his mother had been right about one thing, a change of scenery might not be a bad idea. After a single day back home, he was bombarded by memories of his father to the point it was difficult to breathe. He just wished that his mother had thought of a place other than Paris for him to stay.

Monday morning, he was to begin classes with Adrien and his friends, something he was loath to do after the spectacle that had occurred over the weekend. Although he would never admit it out loud, he was ashamed of his actions that day. It was one thing to pull a prank on someone in good humor, or to put a rival in their place, it was another thing entirely to force unwanted physical contact on someone and then blame the victim. It was a small reprieve that Adrien did not tell his mother what had actually transpired, only mentioning that Felix and one of his friends had had a disagreement and she had been able to out maneuver him… something that still surprised him.

Since he had to do paperwork at the office and meet with the principal, Felix didn't get to class until close to an hour after school had started. And just his luck, he was placed in the same class as Adrien and his friends. The teacher, Mme. Bustier, gave a quick introduction to the class, not knowing that he was already acquainted with the majority of them and recognized a few from the videos. He ignored most of the looks they gave him, but it was difficult to do so with Marinette. Her glare was cooler, although less hostile than most of the others in class. Seeing that the seat next to her was already occupied by Alya was a relief… until Mme. Bustier announced that some people would be moving seats.

"With a new student joining us and Lila's hearing problems returning, I have come up with a seating arrangement that will benefit everyone." She announced with a bright smile. "This half of the room may keep their seats," she motioned to her left, on the side where Chloe sat.

_At least I don't have to sit with Bourgeois, she used to switch back and forth with who she would marry, Adrien or me, even though neither of us wanted her attention. How Adrien can still stand to be her friend is unfathomable._

"Lila, due to your hearing problems, you will be sitting in the front." The words had no sooner left the woman's mouth before a girl with olive skin, a hideous orange jacket, and what appeared to be sausages hanging from her head skip down to the front and sit beside his cousin. Although Felix recognized the girl from his uncle's latest photoshoots, he more recognized the uncomfortable look on Adrien's face. The girl was sitting unnecessarily close and looked ready to devour the poor blonde. This girl was everything he had accused Marinette of being and worse.

"And Alya, you'll be sitting with Lila."

Felix watched Adrien's look of relief wash over his face as he collected his things and got up from his chair, leaving the miffed girl behind. Alya seemed oblivious to the girl's ire, since she gave the other girl a large smile and began prattling on about how nice it was to sit together. He didn't miss her slight look of annoyance before quickly smoothing over her features and matching the other girl's enthusiasm.

"Ivan, I want you to move one row back and sit beside Nathaniel. Adrien and Nino, I want you to sit behind Alya and Lila."

_Oh no…_ It didn't take a genius to go through the process of elimination to realize who he was going to be sharing a desk with for the next few months. And from the look on the french-asian girl's face, she had realized it as well.

"Marinette, as class rep, I want you to show Felix around and help him get used to our school. I know you'll do a great job," Mme. Bustier told her with a beaming smile.

He half expected her to tell her "no", in no uncertain terms. Not that he deserved much less after what he had done. But then he noticed his cousin glancing to the girl with a pleading look. She took a deep breath before smiling at the teacher. "If Felix is willing to work with me, I promise to do my best." He did not miss the smile Adrien gave the girl. No doubt, he had asked her to give him another chance. And since she considered herself in love with Adrien, she had agreed.

"Wonderful! Now go ahead and take your seats so we can get back to the lesson."

Climbing the steps, he sat down to her left and pulled out his books, cautious to keep a moderate distance between them. Both attempting to be respectful and avoid any more well placed strikes to his person.

They did not speak unless necessary for the first half of the day. She concentrated on the lesson, gave him instructions on where the classes were and the best way to reach them after he had shown her his schedule, which matched her own. In between classes, he was relieved that she did not attempt to draw him into conversation, allowing him time to enjoy his book. He had noticed her looking at Lila and Alya, chatting happily together, with a scowl on her face before pulling a sketchbook out of her bag.

During their first break after lunch, as everyone else began chatting again, he noticed that Marinette seemed to be contemplating something she had drawn in her sketchbook. At first, Felix tried to convince himself that it was of no interest to him, but then his curiosity got the best of him. A slight lean and a glance, and he was truly surprised by what he saw. It was a matching gentleman's suit and party dress. The designs were eye catching, yet had a sense of timelessness to them. It spoke greatly of her talent that she had come up with the designs in less than a day, since he swore that this was the page she had been working on between classes.

When Marinette suddenly cleared her throat, it became apparent that he had been caught staring. "Your designs are very impressive," he told her without hesitation. "That pair in particular, reminds me of designs that you would see in a classic noir films, yet it has contemporary accents that allow them to be fashionable today. Quite the difficult medium to manage, yet you have done so flawlessly."

She seemed genuinely surprised by his complement and was barely able to mutter out a suspicious thank you, as she looked to his cousin, who gave her an encouraging smile. "I'm a fan of that genre of movies, and they were the inspiration for these designs."

Felix could easily see that. He was tempted to ask to see more of her designs, but was interrupted by someone.

"Marinette is a pretty talented designer for being an amateur. It's actually kind of surprising sometimes because of how clumsy she can be." Lila smiled as she stood from her seat and sauntered up the steps to them, ignoring Marinette's glare. "You know, a couple of weeks ago, I offered to introduce her to a famous film company in London, but Mr. Culpa was so busy, he just didn't have the time. But I'm sure I can get him to come around. After all, I dated his son for a while after I starred in a little independent film of theirs. It's been a while, but we're still good friends."

If there was one thing Felix hated more than anything, it was people making up such blatant lies about his family. His father had been the best man he ever knew, and barring the fact that she was lying about having a relationship with him, he would not stand for this girl to lower his father's standing by claiming that he would use such a no-talent fraud in one of his films.

Lila seemed ignorant to the fact that she had gotten on his bad side within one minute of speaking to him as she continued talking, her hand inching closer to his arm as she spoke. "You know, Felix. From a film stand-point, you are very handsome and have a face that was made for the movies. I bet that if I called Mr. Culpa tonight, and told him about you, he would be thrilled to meet you."

Just as her hand made contact with his arm, he swatted it away with a smack. "Do not say such blatant lies to me."

There was a moment of shock before her eyes welled up with tears. Felix had been around enough actors in his life to recognize them as fake. "Why would you say something like that? I was just trying to be nice. Is it because _Marinette_ told you I'm a liar. I swear that I'm not."

His glare gained intensity, causing the girl to retreat a step, but her fear meant nothing to him. Not after what she had just said about his father. "I am calling you a liar because I happen to be Felix Culpa and my father is the person you have so casually lied about in my presence. As I am an only child and I have never met you before today, it is impossible for us to have had any sort of relationship in the past. I am also aware of every film my father has ever produced, and I can say with great certainty, that he would never use someone like _you _in his films. Graham Films only hires those with class and sophistication to be in their films."

To his great satisfaction, Lila flinched back as if she had been struck. But he wasn't through yet. "Furthermore, unless you held a seance those 'couple weeks ago' when you spoke to my father, you could not have spoken to him. My father passed away four months ago. I will not allow you to sully his name for your own fantastical lies. Do so again, and I will see to it that you are brought up on charges of slander and defamation of character."

Lila seemed to be in total shock for a moment before looking around as if confused. "Oh no, I did it again!" She began to wail. "I'm so sorry, Felix. I didn't mean to say those things. It's not my fault! I have this terrible disease that makes me spout utter garbage and I have no control over what I say. Please forgive me!" As she broke down in more fake tears, he was surprised to see the majority of the class flock to her side to comfort her.

_Is everyone in this class honestly so stupid that they believe the rubish that is spewing from her mouth?_ Giving his head a shake of disgust, he was glad to see that Adrien was one of the few people that had not rushed to the girl's side, actually seeming to be upset at the scene that had just played out. More surprising was that Marinette had not fawned over her lies either, but continued to glare at the girl as she gripped her pencil tightly in one hand.

By the time classes let out for the day, Felix wanted to be as far away from that horrid Italian girl and his inceped classmates as possible. He had just reached the steps in front of the school when he heard someone call his name. It was only because he recognized the speaker as Marinette that he stopped. The fact that she was aware of Lila's deceit and refused to cater to her, gained a certain level of respect from him.

"Felix, I'm really sorry about Lila. I should have warned you that she was basically a serial liar who will say whatever she can to make herself look good."

"Yet you did not." He said, somewhat accusingly.

"I wanted to, I really hate liars and she's the worst of the worst, but it wouldn't have been right to say something and force your judgement on her before you had a chance to make your own decision. Plus, I've already tried to tell everyone in class that she's a liar, and no one but Adrien, and now you, believes me."

He could understand that. He had seen the way the others catered to the liar after she claimed to have a disease and every time she turned on the tears. Even with Marinette as the class rep, they didn't seem to pay her as much mind as they did the other girl. And after the first and second impressions that Felix and Marinette had made on each other, it was also understandable that she would want to see how he reacted. It was very likely that he would have done the exact same thing had their roles been reversed.

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

"Um, Felix," the tone of her voice, more than anything else, kept him from walking away that time. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for your loss. Your father was a very talented filmmaker and his film, _La Nuit Bleue_, will always be my all-time favorite. I don't think anyone but him could have made that film and its story so beautiful."

Marinette gave him a small wave goodbye before heading down the steps, with no idea of the impact she had just made on Felix. _La Nuit Bleue_ had been a small, silent film done in black and white, with strategic splashes of color displayed throughout the film. There was not a single word spoken or subtitle displayed during the entire film, the entire story dependent on the skills of the actors, the musical score, costumes, and the set designs. He knew every detail about that film because it was also _his _favorite movie, the one that he used to watch with his father.

What truly surprised Felix was that Marinette would have no way of knowing such a thing. Only he and his mother knew what film he and his father would watch together. Yet there had been such wonder in her eyes when she mentioned the film, that was not something easily faked, even by seasoned actors. It was at that moment, standing at the top steps of the school as he watched Marinette walk away, that he realized that she was a truly genuine person… and he was quickly developing a crush on her.

**AN: For those who didn't figure it out, Gabriel only agreed to let Felix stay for the same reason he puts up with Lila, to stir the pot and provide akuma victims. I also decided to get my Felix redemption in quickly so their story could move forward as well, and it might seem a little fast, but you have to admit that everyone falls for Marinette pretty quickly as well (unless you're in love with her alter ego or you're Lila). So who liked the way that Felix completely destroyed Lila in front of the class and forced her to fall back on her big lie? Let me know! Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

***It's time for _the talk_ between Adrien and Felix in a story that I don't own. Who all thinks that this will go well?**

After arriving back at the Agreste mansion with his cousin, Felix was having a difficult time keeping his thoughts away from the french-asian designer. Despite only meeting her twice, in less than the span of a week, she had truly impressed him. She was responsible enough to hold a position of responsibility at school, was skilled in self defense and was possibly at the same level as himself, had a passion for design and the skills to back it up, and she did not force her opinion of someone else on him and allowed him to make his own judgement. She was a very intriguing girl, something that he was unaccustomed to in their age group.

However, he was still skeptical. There had to be an insurmountable flaw that would allow for balance. Lila had said that she was clumsy, but he was not about to weigh the rubbish she provided with any degree of certainty. Deciding his cousin was the best source of information at his disposal, he left his room and went to Adrien's.

He answered quickly with a tired smile and stepped to the side to allow him to enter. "I'm sorry I didn't warn you about Lila. She's lies a lot, but she's mostly harmless."

"You say mostly, why is that?" Felix asked, deciding to get as much information on _that_ girl as well since his cousin seemed willing to share.

"Well, she mostly makes up stuff about knowing a lot of famous people and doing extraordinary things, like what she tried to do today. Most of her lies don't hurt anyone. But she did try to get Marinette expelled-"

Felix didn't interrupt his cousin. No, turning on him quickly while giving him a cold stare was enough. It was a 'you call that _harmless_?' and 'do you consider what she said about my father today to fall under the category of _not hurting anyone_ as well?' look that made Adrien flinch and think over his words before looking guilty.

"Yeah, I know, she's not so harmless anymore. The day she did that to Marinette was a really bad day. The worst part was that the teachers and the principal wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell them that Lila was making it up. They just expelled her without even investigating anything, either. The only thing I could do was convince Lila to make up another lie to get Marinette back in school. I basically told her that if she wanted us to be friends, she wasn't allowed to hurt my other friends."

If there was ever a time that Felix was truly disgusted with his cousin, it was now. He had basically whored himself to be the friend of a despicable leech after hurting someone that Felix was coming to consider a genuinely good person. Putting aside his feelings about his cousin, he decided to move on to the reason he came to speak to him. "What can you tell me about Marinette? Despite her previous anger towards me, she has been the kindest to me out of everyone in class."

Adrien's smile lights up his face. "That's just how she is. Marinette will give everyone a chance to be friends, even if they don't make the best first impression. First time we met, she saw me trying to take gum off her seat but it looked like I was putting it there. She gave me a chance to explain later and actually heard me out, not a lot of people would do that, and she became one of my first friends outside of you and Chloe. Just don't lie to her, that's the one thing she can't stand over anything else.

"She's always helping people, stands up for what she believes in, and she's really creative. She won Father's design contest, designed Jagged Stone's famous Eiffel Tower glasses, and then designed his album cover! Chloe's mom even offered to take her to New York to work with her, but she wanted to finish school with the rest of us and turned her down, but not before helping Chloe reconcile with her mom. The only thing about her is that she's shy and kind of clumsy. I've lost count of the number of times she's walked into walls or tripped on air. And I'm always hearing her stumble over her words and say things that she didn't mean to."

"She seemed well spoken with me, and I have not seen her stumble over words with anyone besides you. In my experience, girls will act that way around someone they have affection for." Felix wasn't completely sure why he was saying this. What did he care if his cousin realized that the girl _he _was interested in knew that she liked his cousin?

But then Adrien chuckled and shook his head. "No way, Marinette doesn't like me that way. She's just a really good friend. Besides, she knows that I like someone else."

_Yes, that hero-worship, fantasy crush on the spandex clothed heroine with an impressive right hook. I highly doubt that relationship will ever come true._ Felix thought as he shook his head at his cousin.

"Why do you ask? I mean, are you…" Adrien's expression slowly morphed from curious, to understanding, and then excitement. Felix thought for a moment that he had figured out that the girl had a crush on him, but his oblivious cousin did not disappoint. "You like Marinette, don't you?" He asked with a large smile. "That's great! She's perfect for you! You should really go for it, Felix. Just promise not to hurt her. She's a great person and I don't want to see her get hurt."

"Yes, I think Marinette has been hurt enough by others negligence to her feelings. I will not be someone to add to that."

Ignorant of the true meaning behind Felix's words, Adrien continued to smile at him as he left the room. Feeling as though he had done his due-diligence towards his cousin, actually getting his blessing to pursue a romantic relationship with his friend, and left him feeling a bit lighter. Now he just needed to figure out how to approach Marinette. It only took the short walk to his room to decide that he first needed to become her friend, then he could work on winning her heart.

**~oOo~**

For the rest of the week, Felix attempted to pursue a friendship with Marinette, which was not as difficult as he thought it would be. They didn't talk much, but it was never an uncomfortable silence. She would sketch while he read his books. She would ask him what he was reading that day and he would ask what the theme was that she would sketch for her designs. When she nearly knocked over her drink onto her sketchbook and he caught it before it spilled, she looked at him as if he had saved her livelihood.

One day, she brought in a box of madeleines to share with the class, himself included. He was about to tell her "no, thank you", but their heavenly scent beckoned him to try one, and he was not disappointed. From the satisfied smile on her face, he knew that his satisfaction showed and she promised to bring more in the future.

Later that week, she was flipping through her sketchbook to look at some of her designs and he was not so subtly spying at the sketches over her shoulder. At one particular sketch, she was about to turn the page and he placed his hand on the paper to stop her. She seemed surprised but scooted the book closer to him so he could get a better look. The design was exquisite, clearly influenced by her Chinese heritage, with black slacks that were form fitting without being too tight or baggy and came just below the knees. The top was high collared with a flower at the base of the throat, a song bird at the left side of the chest, and gossamer fabric for the sleeves and connecting just above the waist. Although he had liked many of her other designs, this one was quite beautiful… but it seemed to be missing something.

Marinette seemed to agree. "I really like this one, too. I want to make it, but I'm not done with it yet."

Using scrutinizing eyes, he inspected the design in the way his father had taught him to look at a costume on set and figure out how it was out of place. "It's the bird," he told her.

She quickly shook her head. "I'm going to keep the songbird, I'm really looking forward to the challenge of hand-stitching it."

"And I'm not suggesting that it be done away with, simply that you tie it in more with the design," he clarified.

Her eyes narrowed on the design, seeming to study it and consider dozens of possibilities in a matter of seconds. Felix could tell when one idea stuck because the brows raised slightly and she quickly reached into her bag to retrieve her pencil. That small conversation became something else he could respect about her. Most artists he knew would disregard any constructive criticism that came their way and veitamally defend their work. Marinette did defend elements of her work with an actual reason, and accepted the criticism to be used at her own discretion.

When she gave a satisfied humm, Felix looked back down at the page, not even realizing that he had been staring at her face as she had been sketching. It was not a dramatic change, but it made all the difference. The top now had a black border where the gossamer fabric connected at the waist, and that black fabric reached up like a delicate tree branch that the bird was perching on, preparing to sing it's melodic song. It was perfect.

He gave his own humm of approval, earning a beaming smile from the designer.

By the time Friday came around, Felix had decided to do something that he promised himself that he would not do. Classes had just let out for the day and he quietly asked Marinette to stay back so that he could speak to her. She looked at him curiously, but did as he asked. When they were the last two in the room, he gave her a sober, embarrassed look.

"Marinette, I've realized that I have yet to give you an actual apology for my actions last week, and it is long overdue. I am sorry for invading your personal space and forcing a kiss on you when you clearly were not interested. And even worse, I said that despicable phrase, something that my mother may have slapped me harder than you did if she heard. I apologize and hope that you may forgive me for my actions."

To his surprise, or perhaps not, she gives him a large smile. "Thank you for apologizing, Felix. I accept your apology. And I'll admit, I'm glad that Adrien convinced me to give you a third chance," she said playfully, also confirming that his cousin had spoken with her again. "You're proving to be a really great person, and I would have been disappointed if I missed out on being your friend. I-if that's okay with you? Being fr-friends, I mean?"

She was stuttering now, giving him the impression that just maybe… Unable to help himself, Felix gave her a genuine smile that matched her own. Sticking out his hand, she immediately took it and gave it a shake. "I am most honored that you would allow me to be your friend."

"In that case," she pulls out her phone, acting nervous, "would you like to exchange numbers?"

He smoothly pulled out his own phone, grateful that his hands were steady as they exchanged phones and added their names and numbers to the devices before giving them back.

"Thank you, Felix. I'll see you on Monday. If you want to hang out or talk over the weekend, don't be afraid to text me." Giving a final wave, Marinette turned to leave the room, barely missing the blush that colored the blond's cheeks as she left.

**AN: Yeah... Adrien is just as clueless here as anywhere else. There will likely be a wake-up call down the line. For those that have taken a look at Zaheela's art on Tumblr or Pintrest, you will probably recognize the outfit that I'm describing. I will get more into it later, but for now Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

***Little more salt of a different flavor, to a story that I do not own. Please don't hate me.**

As their friendship grew, Marinette and Felix came to realize that they liked to challenge each other. The first instance came with a test in physics. Adrien would always receive the highest grade on the tests, but she was sure that she would get the second highest. When Felix said that _his_ test would be higher than hers, she made a bet with him. He beat her test score by three points, and she had to bring in a box of madeleines just for him.

The next bet was Marinette's attempt to make him more social with the class, barring Lila of course. He had to talk sports with Alix and Kim for an entire break between classes and actually participate in the conversation. Although he had a difficult time keeping up with their fast-paced conversation, when Kim mentioned his love for swimming, Felix admitted that he was skilled at the butterfly. Kim, of course, wanted to race him. He eventually agreed and the boys exchanged numbers to set up a time and place for the race. None of his friends back in London had a passion for swimming like this boy, so it would be an interesting challenge. But since Felix was unable to maintain a conversation with Alix, he lost his bet with Marinette and had to wear casual clothes to school the next day. _The horror._

When Felix challenged Marinette to movie trivia, he had no idea what would come of it. He had not expected Nino to know so much about directors and special effects when he jumped into the conversation. Nor had he known that Mylene was so informed about actors and the different processes they used. All four of them ended up in such a debate that the bet was all but forgotten and they ended up having a movie night at Marinette's home. Felix had never done something like that before. It was Marinette, Adrien, Nino, Alya, Mylene, Ivan and himself; all gathered in the Dupain-Cheng living room, eating a variety of fresh breads and watching their favorite movies. Marinette even made a point of playing _La Nuit Bleue_, just to prove to everyone why it was the best of all time. By the time all of them separated for home that night, Felix had four new contacts in his phone, and he didn't regret it.

The more time he spent with Marinette, the more sure he became about her. She was everything that someone like him could want in a person; smart but willing to listen to others, kind but didn't let people walk all over her, creative but open to suggestions. If they were to begin dating, he suspected that it would be a perfect relationship… _If only she wasn't in love with my cousin._

Felix hadn't expected it to hurt so much. But every time he saw her staring at Adrien with love in her eyes, wishing that look could be directed at him, it truly did hurt. It was obvious that the only real reason things were at a stand-still between the two of them was because of how oblivious his cousin was. Not that it was completely his fault, his uncle held the blame there.

It had taken a great deal of self control not to say anything to his cousin on many different occasions, and then Adrien just had to stick his foot in his mouth coming into school one day.

"I don't know why you two are still dancing around each other, can't she see that you really like her?" Adrien asked Felix, not paying attention to the volume of his voice or the hypocrisy of his words.

"I assure you, I would be very happy to pursue a relationship with Marinette, but that is not possible at this time, as she has strong feelings for someone else." Felix replied, giving his cousin a _very _pointed look, one that even he wasn't able to overlook.

"Me? You think Marinette likes me? Why would you think that?" He asked, still not controlling the volume of his voice and began to draw attention. The least desirable person being Lila, who gave the two of them a smile that made Felix believe she was going to twist this situation to her advantage later. He took the time to give the girl a _very_ distinct look, it was enough that she flinched, but quickly recovered and flounced out of sight. He had no doubt that she would stay close enough to listen.

Felix would have preferred to move this conversation into private and tried to indicate that they should, but Adrien refused to move until he told him. He lowered his voice. "I know because I saw her video message to you, she said that she loved you and would be there for you. Marinette is in love with you." He didn't think he could say it any more plainly than that. If Adrien didn't understand him, then there was no hope for the boy.

The two kept staring at each other for a minute, and then Adrien chuckled and shook his head as he walked up the stairs to the classroom. "That has got to be the lamest practical joke you've ever tried to pull on me."

"What joke?"

Felix felt his insides tie into a knot as Marinette's sweet voice reached his ears. She was walking up to them, a box of croissants in her hands, if he were to go by the buttery scent. Before he could stop the possible heartache that his cousin was sure to cause, Adrien was already turning to her outside the classroom door as he continued to chuckle. "Just heard that you're in love with me. That you even sent me a video that day saying that you did."

Felix saw her expression drop and the hurt in her eyes, his cousin was too distracted by his own humor at the situation to even notice. And he didn't, Marinette plastered on a fake smile as quickly as he could blink. No doubt, she was smiling so big to force back her tears. "Y-y-you're right. That's just-just… hilarious…" Without another word, she walked away from the class and down the steps.

He wanted to do something, comfort her if he could, but he had no idea how. Felix had never been good at comforting someone when they were upset, just ask his mother. Only thing he could think of doing was telling her best friend. "Alya," he walked straight up to the girl, completely ignoring the person she was sitting next to. "I believe Marinette has gone home and is in need of her best friend."

Alya's brow creased. "What happened?"

Unable to help himself, he turned a vicious glare on his cousin, causing the boy to flinch. "He thought that Marinette's video was a joke and laughed about it in front of her."

There was a gasp that escaped the girl a second before she jumped to her feet and rushed out the door. Only slowing down for long enough to give Adrien the dirtiest look any of them had ever seen. Those who had heard Adrien laugh at Marinette's feelings, that's how they considered the situation, were giving the blonde the same glare. After a few seconds, realization crashed into him with enough force to make him stumble back into the door frame. Adrien turned to leave, probably to follow Alya and apologize to Marinette, but the doorway was blocked by Nino.

"Not cool, dude. So, not cool."

Adrien was ready to try and slip past his best friend to continue his pursuit, but then Mme. Bustier came in and told everyone to take their seats. He seemed to deflate as he shuffled to his desk and slumped into his seat, keeping his eyes trained on his desk. When Alya came back half way through the first class, she gave Felix a sympathetic shake of her head before casting another glare at Adrien.

Not so oblivious anymore, the model realized that he was in big trouble with his friends. Felix had also noticed an avalanche of texts that came to his cousin's phone, many coming from a contact named Kagami, which made the blonde flinch. He became curious about the context after one specific text made him groan and drop his head to the desk with an audible _**thunk**_.

Luckily for Felix, he did not need to suffer his cousin's presence after school, as the majority of the class decided to give him a piece of their minds about laughing at Marinette's confession. He barely heard Adrien try to explain that he had not seen the video, and that he thought the whole thing had been a joke, which went over as well as a surprise akuma attack. Deciding to leave the others to deal with his ignorant cousin, he left the school to visit his upset friend.

Mme. Cheng gave him a kind smile and handed him a plate of assorted cookies and pastries to take up with him. He found Marinette, wrapped in at least four different blankets and watching _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_, a true classic. She said nothing, but gave him a weak smile and nodded for him to sit beside her before pausing the movie.

They were silent for a long while before Felix cleared his throat. "I owe you another apology, Marinette. Adrien said something insufferable and I told him about the video you sent. It was not meant to be malicious, but I-"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Felix," she interrupted him, her sad eyes leaving little room for argument as she continued. "I sent him that video, whether he saw it or not, or you told him or not, it doesn't change the fact that Adrien thought it was a joke. He didn't even entertain the idea that I really loved him, and laughed about it when he told me. I don't…" her words trailed off as she began sniffling again.

Cautious of her personal space, and hoping that she wasn't so upset to lash out, Felix wrapped an arm around her shoulders to draw her to his side. Much to his relief, she let him do so without striking him. After letting her cry for another ten minutes, Felix was getting uncomfortable with the sound of her tears and said something that he was sure would likely get him slapped. "Would you like me to set up a date between Adrien and Lila? We could follow them so you could watch him suffer."

Much to his relief, she burst into laughter. "Oh, that would be vicious," she said between gasps. "We could make it a romantic dinner for two at a busy place, then a boat ride on the Seine. Everyone would think they're dating. And we could tell Kagami and Chloe so they could make a scene."

He nodded. "I believe Kagami is aware of what happened. Adrien received multiple messages from a contact by that name during the course of the day. From his reactions, whatever she said was not pleasant."

She gave another chuckle but shook her head. "Let's threaten to do that to him, but not go through with it. I'm not mean enough to force him on a date with someone that's going to grope him all day."

Felix gave a hum of agreement before reaching for the remote to start the movie from the beginning. The movie had already gone past the scene with the Black Knight, and he was not about to miss his favorite part of the movie.

**AN: I know some of you are probably annoyed with me right now for the Adrien salt. Other's are probably cheering for letting him get some sense knocked into him. Either way, I needed to do something about him. And he might seem OOC, but I think I gave a legit scenario since Felix has played jokes on him before and probably thought that Marinette was in on it. There's also some class redemption in here since Alya does what she can to be there for her girl, and the rest of the class doesn't let Adrien get off easily for hurting their friend (and because this has nothing to do with Lila). Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

***Let's give Felix and Marinette a chance to connect in this story I don't own...**

Marinette returned to school the following day; cried out, cheered up, and sort-of ready to face her former crush. Felix had waited for her at the front of the school, although Alya and the girls, minus Lila, got to her first. Surrounding the _emotionally distraught_ girl to protect her from any and every male at the school, specifically Adrien, they lead her into the school. Not wanting to let her out of his sight, he followed the girls at a safe distance.

Felix had made it very clear to his cousin the night before that he had handled this badly, a friend was never supposed to laugh a another friend's feelings or consider them a joke. Adrien had taken his lumps without argument and did not call the girl as he was instructed. She needed time and her feelings came before his. But when the girls entered the classroom, all the instructions he had given Adrien seemed to have been forgotten.

Adrien was apologizing to her over and over again, trying to get past the other girls so he could see her, and seemed to miss how uncomfortable he was making Marinette. Felix sighed in exasperation, making his way around the circle of girls before grabbing Adrien by the collar and flinging him into his seat with a stern glare.

"You have apologized. You are now finished speaking. If she wishes to accept your apology, that is completely up to her. Until that happens, you will restrain yourself and not antagonize her."

He might have continued if he hadn't felt a small hand on his arm. Glancing back to see Marinette, she gave him a look that said that she wanted to speak. Giving a nod, he went to his chair.

Marinette sighed as she gave Adrien what could be considered a kind look before she spoke. "I'm not angry at you. You are one of my best friends and I don't want to lose you. But I want you to understand that what you did hurt me. And even though I will forgive you eventually, I need to get past my own feels first. If you can give me time, I promise that we can still be friends."

Adrien didn't look completely pleased by the situation, but what choice did he have? Be patient and eventually get his friend back, or press the issue and likely lose her forever. Luckily, Felix knew that his cousin had enough sense to listen to her and nodded in agreement.

As the day progressed, it was difficult to ignore the looks that the majority of the classroom was sending towards Marinette, as well as how they were acting around her. It was as though everyone was expecting her to break down crying or become akumatized. Felix would admit, that had been a worry of his as well, but she was doing her best to be strong. The actions of his classmates were likely to put more stress on her at this point. And he was not going to allow her to become one of those things.

At the first break, he asked her to show him which of her designs she had made real. Giving a small smile, Marinette pulled out her sketchbook and pointed out over twenty designs that she had made for herself. He was happy to see that the songbird had been finished at some point since she showed him the design a few weeks ago.

Before the next lesson began, she bumped her shoulder into his and smiled. "Thank you."

He needed no explanation of why she was thanking him. Perhaps it was because he wasn't treating her like she was broken. Or maybe because he distracted her from the others in the room. It didn't matter. All he cared about was that he'd made her smile.

A few days later, things were beginning to get back to normal, or at least Marinette was sketching again and had spoken to Adrien a few times without looking like she was going to cry, that was progress in Felix's opinion. They had yet to do any more bets, but he thought the time had come to put his own plan into action. And the ideal opportunity had come that day. Their gym class had been focusing on self defense; and Marinette, Adrien, Felix, and Alix had all been placed in the more advanced course. Adrien had insisted that Felix be paired with Marinette, he suspected it was more to help his cousin than it was to keep from upsetting the girl. Felix didn't mind, Marinette was a strong partner and they were naturally challenging each other as the class progressed.

"How about a bet, we haven't done that in a while," she asked him with a smile, as the teacher told them to go over what they had learned that week.

"What did you have in mind?" He couldn't believe his luck as she made her proposition before he had a chance.

"First to five points wins, pins and secured holds will earn points. Anything illegal is an automatic disqualification and," she glanced over to Alix, who had already worn out her partner, "Alix can be the referee, since she'll be unbiased." The pink haired girl, who had overheard the two of them, grinned at the prospect and was already getting into position to watch the two of them.

"Acceptable terms, and what are the stakes?" It was becoming difficult to keep from smirking.

Marinette gave a humm of contemplation, the smile never leaving her face. "If I win, you have to help me with Mylene's stage production next month."

"That is amicable; and should I win, you shall wear your designs to school for a week and I shall choose which ones."

Her smile grew. "Deal."

"Okay, you two, to your marks," Alix instructed, she was excited to see what they could do. Marinette and Felix got into position easily and waited for the pink haired girl to give the signal, ignoring how they had gained the attention of the rest of the class. "Marinette, set?" She nodded. "Felix, set?" He nodded as well. "Round one, go!"

Felix reached for her while deflecting her hands, but made the mistake of not watching her feet as she took him down with a Russian leg-sweep and quickly put his left arm into a hammer lock. "Point, Marinette!" Alix called out and Marinette immediately released him, then offered him a hand to get him back to his feet.

They reset their positions and waited for Alix to give the signal, Felix had a better idea this time. "Round two, go!" He got close, dropping to one knee to do a scoop between her legs and flipped her over to land on her back. Luckily, Marinette had enough sense to tuck her chin to her chest to keep her head from hitting the mat. "Point, Felix!" She called out as he quickly pinned the girl's shoulders, but then helped her to her feet.

"Smart move, won't happen again," she grinned at him.

"I would never be so foolish as to use the same move twice in the same match," he smirked back as they returned to position.

"Round three, go!"

He thought he had her in an arm-bar right off, but she quickly tumbled forward to untwist her arm and grabbed his wrist, trying to control his arm. Felix kept his grip on her and swept her legs out from beneath her, making her fall backwards while using his grip to help control her fall so she wouldn't get hurt, before falling across her midsection to get the pin. "Point, Felix!"

There were cheers from the guys as Felix helped her back to his feet. "I am looking forward to seeing your designs in person."

She chuckled. "And I'll be glad to have the extra help next month."

"Round four, go!"

The next grab was too easy, Felix realized this a split second before Marinette jumped into the air, wrapping her legs around his arm and shifting her grip so she had him in an arm bar that sent his down to the mat.

"Point, Marinette! Next point wins!" Alix called out in excitement as all the girls cheered for Marinette, and the two of them got back into position for the last time. "Round five, go!"

He tried a low leg sweep, she avoided with a back fall and did a kip-up to get back to her feet just as he regained his. She went for his left arm but he deftly avoided her grasp, ducking behind her to wrap his arms around her arms and midsection. She attempted to drop straight down, but Felix was already lifting her off of her feet as he turned, putting both of them face down on the mat. There was a moment of struggling before she growled in annoyance.

"Final point, Felix wins!"

Everyone let out a cheer as he sat up, releasing Marinette from his grip. Despite losing, she had a big smile on her face. "That was fun, we really should spare again."

Giving her a hand up, Felix couldn't help but smile at the prospect of doing this again. He didn't doubt that they could make each other better, and was looking forward to how this would affect their relationship. "Agreed. Tomorrow, I want you to wear your songbird outfit."

There was a sigh and a roll of her eyes as she agreed.

**AN: This is mostly a fluff chapter to show the growing relationship between Felix and Marinette. The story is going to be picking up very soon so I needed to show the established connection betwee the two of them before I get into what's coming. I hope you all are as excited to read it as I am to write it! Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

***This chapter directly uses scenes from the comic by Zaheela, which I have used with her/his permission. I do not own MLB or any of its charaters. I now return you to the coming humiliation of one Italian liar.**

Felix didn't bother hiding his smirk as Marinette came up the steps wearing her songbird. At a glance, he noticed a few changes from the sketch. The pants went all the way to her ankles and tied above her feet, giving it a controlled feel to it, which contrasted and complemented the freely flowing top. However, it was the bird that drew his attention; hand stitched in hues of blues, purples, and white with gems for eyes and golden thread for the beak and feet. The detail and time she must have put into it was absolutely amazing, proving to him that she wasn't only skilled at designing her pieces, but was a true artist at creating them as well.

There was a slight blush on her face as she stood before him, waiting for him to comment on her design out loud.

"You changed the length of the pants," he told her, pointing out the most prominent change from the drawing.

She nodded as they walked into school together. "I always start out with more fabric for length when it comes to skirts and pants since you can always cut some material away, but you can't easily add more. I liked the longer length and it worked well with the flow of the top, and since the design was for me, I decided to keep it long."

"Fair point, and they do work well together. You are a very skilled designer, I can see how you were able to gain Uncle Gabriel's attention, as well as Bourgeois."

Marinette's blush increased at the compliment and although it did calm down as the day progressed, it never left her cheeks, as the compliments didn't end with Felix. Everyone in class was impressed with her design and were now very interested in getting some original designs for themselves. Alya took multiple photos to post on her personal blog, along with a link to Marinette's website.

She handled the onslaught of requests from their classmates with the pose of a seasoned professional, letting them know to visit her website, MDC Original Designs, to take a look at what she has to offer. Marinette had made the website a few months ago after Jagged Stone had taken to bragging about her designs to other friends in the industry and they began emailing her with requests. The website made things easier for setting up appointments, showcase her new designs, and list the pricing for her work.

By the end of the school day, Marinette's phone chimed multiple times, alerting her to the requests for appointments to get a MDC original. A few were from their classmates, but most were from people that had seen the photos on Alya's blog and were willing to pay for her work.

Marinette had been excitedly showing the alerts on her phone to Felix as they left the school, so he had ended up walking her home, not that he minded. When they were approaching the front doors of the bakery, she looked past him towards the park beside her home. There was a photoshoot in progress, and Felix was almost positive that it was for his uncle's new spring line. He had worn one of his uncle's suits to school that day in anticipation of complementing Marinette's style. Before he could suggest taking a quick look, since no designer would turn down the chance to see what was coming, Marinette was already hurrying across the street to get a closer look with the rest of the crowd.

As soon as they reached a spot they could easily see, Felix understood why the shoot had attracted such a crowd and it wasn't because of the clothes. The photoshoot was featuring Adrien and Lila as the models, and the photographer was having a fit with Lila. From the snippets of Italian that he could understand, the girl wasn't giving the right energy for the shoot and seemed more interested in showcasing herself rather than the clothes.

His interactions with the Italian liar had been limited since the first day in class, when he had called her out on the lies about himself and his father, but that had been enough for him. He was about to suggest that they leave since being anywhere in the same vicinity as her was grating on his nerves, when the girl turned and saw him.

"Felix~" she called in a sing-song voice that made himself and Marinette cringe as she ran towards them. Just as Lila was about to wrap her arms around his torso, he side-stepped the girl and let her trip past him. She was barely able to catch her balance, a good thing since he doubted if she would be able to pay for the possible damages to the clothes.

Adrien had quickly followed his partner, looking relieved to see the two of them, but worried about the attention they had suddenly garnered from Lila and the crowd around them. He waved his bodyguard to let them pass to join them away from the crowd. Lila followed close behind, attempting to hide the glare she directed at Felix and Marinette.

Not one to give up easily, she plastered a fake smile on her face as she skipped up beside the two. "Oh Felix~"

The blonde stopped, wrapping a possessive arm around Marinette's shoulder to keep her close, as he glared darkly at the Italian girl. "What. Do. You. Want. Rossi."

There was a brief look of apprehension on her face before she switched to a flirtatious smile. "Well, your uncle asked me to be Adrien's partner in his latest photoshoot."

_Meaning that you likely lied to get yourself on set,_ he thought with disgust since he recalled Adrien mentioning the solo shoot today. Looking over at his cousin, he wasn't surprised to see that he seemed just as uncomfortable about the girl's presence as Felix and Marinette were.

"Anyways, the photographer keeps saying something is off. Since you're so knowledgeable, I'm sure you could help me," she said before casting a belittling glance in the french-asian designer's direction. "Marinette is okay, but her style is just so _childish_, you know?"

_I would hardly call her designs "childish", and even if some fashion school drop out were to agree with you, they would follow that up with tearing you and your own fashion choices to shreds._ Felix would have loved to say that to the girl, since she had exceeded his tolerance of her ten words ago. Adrien seemed just as upset, if his clenched fists were any indication. Marinette seemed to be taking the insult much better than they had, since she was staring at Lila with a bored look on her face.

"We just don't know what's wrong and really could use your help. Come on, plugh-please?"

Felix could have sworn that the girl nearly gagged on the word. He would have liked nothing more than to deny the girl any advice and say that she had no talent… _Oh, that's an idea._

Marinette seemed to have sensed the change in his demeanor as she glanced up at him. He gave a sly grin, silently telling her that he had an idea and that the result would be well worth it if she played along. There was a minute roll of her eyes, before giving a subtle nod of consent to say that she'd play along.

"You want my advice? Fine." He said coldly, guiding Marinette towards the set as he snatched the fake glasses off of his cousin's face, handed them to her to hold for a moment, and began loosening his tie. "There is nothing wrong with the outfit. _You, _however, are lacking."

The girl gave an indignant gasp and glared after Felix as he continued speaking and ran his fingers through his hair to mess it up a bit. "You lack professionalism, pose, patience. The ability to trust and be trusted." He held his hand out to Marinette for the glasses, which she handed over smoothly before following his subtle direction to stand close to his side with her body turned towards his so the songbird would be easily seen as she looked at the photographer. "And of course… Chemistry with your partner to do a couples shot… unless it's for a divorce ad, I suppose."

He hadn't even finished speaking before Vincent started gushing and taking photos like crazy. "That's it!_Tutto qui!_ The perfect expressions! You have your spaghetti, you love your spaghetti. You know that everyone wants your spaghetti, but it was made just for you. _Signorina_, move your arm slightly behind you, the design you're wearing is _molto bella,_ the world must see it! _Si, si, si! _Now _signorina,_ I want you to reach up with you other arm and grasp his tie in your hand, but do not rumple the fabric. _Signore, _tilt your chin towards her, just enough to look into her eyes. _Si, tutto qui! Perfecto!"_

Vincent probably would have continued taking pictures if Felix hadn't told him it was enough. He may have been wearing a suit from his uncle's new line, but that didn't mean that he wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon posing for the over exuberant photographer. He had only set out to put Lila in her place. The fact that it momentarily saved his cousin from the grabby shrew and showcased Marinette's design were a bonus.

"_Grazie, molto bene. _Had the two of you not arrived, I fear that this shoot would have been ruined." Vincent said dramatically as he cast a disapproving glance at Lila, who was fuming off to the side.

"Hmm, I can see that. Despite my uncle's great eye for fashion, his choice of female models is severely lacking." Felix agreed, not bothering to avert his gaze from the girl. She, in turn, gave him a scathing look that promised great pain and annoyance in the future. He just hadn't realized that future would come so soon.

**AN: If you thought this chapter was harsh, just wait! And again, I want to thank Zaheela for allowing me to use her comic as the inspiration for this story. I saw the comic and just kept expanding on it. I hope everyone is enjoying what has come and will enjoy what is still on the way (a lot of justice paired with some salty goodness). Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

***Here comes something that everyone hopes will happen in the show that I do not own.**

Lila was absolutely fuming as Vincent continued to gush over Marinette's outfit, and how she and Felix had been perfect for the photoshoot. Felix could practically hear the thoughts rolling through her narcissistic mind. How he and Marinette were trying to come between her and Adrien. How everyone was stupid to think that anyone could model better than her. That she refused to let anyone show her up, let alone the people who knew she was lying about everything.

Slapping a sickly-sweet smile on her face, Lila grabbed Adrien's left arm to pull him to the set, ignoring that her nails were digging painfully into his skin. "Well, now that we know what you want, I'm sure that Adrien and I can do _much _better than a couple of walk-ons that aren't even wearing the right clothes. Get your camera ready and watch this."

Vincent reluctantly raised his camera, seeing how uncomfortable Adrien seemed to be. Felix noticed a spot on Adrien's white sleeve turning red, the girl had literally dug her nails so deep into his cousin that she drew blood. Before he could comment and stop the shoot, Lila grabbed the back of Adrien's neck and forced a deep kiss to his lips, going so far as to shove her tongue into his mouth.

Marinette gasped with shock and Adrien made a sound of disgust and shoved Lila away as hard as he could, sending the girl tumbling to the ground and ripping the dress she was wearing.

"What the hell are you doing, Lila? I never said that you could kiss me!" Adrien was yelling as he wiped his mouth furiously with the back of his hand.

Vincent had rushed over to the fallen girl to help her back to her feet, only to be shoved away in anger. His camera flew from his hand and landed with an audible crack, which sent the photographer into a panic.

"Why are you so upset about kissing your girlfriend for a photoshoot? I didn't think it would be a big-"

"I am NOT your boyfriend! We are only friends, I've told you that multiple times. But after what you just did, I really don't want to be friends anymore! You keep touching me like you own me, it's invasive and you ignore me when I tell you to stop. I can't stand it!"

As Adrien got louder and louder, Felix was prepared to let the whole thing blow up so that the girl would have to stay away from him and his family. He hadn't expected his cousin to react like that, and clearly neither had Lila, but everyone had their limits and being forcefully kissed like that had apparently been Adrien's.

Then he felt Marinette rapidly tap his arm. "You need to call Nathalie," she said quickly. "This is getting bad really quick and Lila will try to spin this to her advantage at the expense of Adrien, your uncle, and you. Video call her and get her to put your uncle on the call." Then she was hurrying over to _put herself_ between Adrien and Lila as the two continued to yell at each other and Lila grabbed his arm again. She was right, Felix could see people recording the whole thing on their phones, and knew that it would look very bad if they didn't do something right away. He also knew that Marinette could defend herself, but did not want to risk her being harmed.

Felix speed-dialed his uncle's assistant, who answered almost immediately. "What is it, Felix?"

"You need to get Uncle Gabriel on this call right now. There has been an incident at Adrien's photoshoot, and unless you want the business to take a very large hit when the headlines come out tomorrow, he will listen to me and his son. _This can not wait._"

Seeming properly motivated, Nathalie got her boss on the video call in less than a minute. Turning the volume on his phone all the way up, Felix directed the screen towards the three that were continuing to argue. By this point, Adrien was doing his best to keep Lila from touching him, his left shirt sleeve was torn and there were more marks than Felix had seen before. Marinette was skillfully blocking Lila's hands to keep her from grabbing her or Adrien again. There was no fear in her eyes, practically daring the Italian to escalate her attacks so she could do the same.

"What is going on here?" Gabriel spoke loudly from the phone, causing Adrien and Marinette to flinch slightly while Lila glared at the screen in challenge. "Mlle. Rossi, what are you doing there? You were not scheduled for a photoshoot today."

Felix barely kept a straight face at that. _I suspected as much, although I hadn't thought that she'd have the audacity to do it._

"Uncle Gabriel, this is Felix speaking," he said, keeping the phone directed at the scene before him. "Lila Rossi has very publicly forced sexual advances on your son. She kissed him without his consent or the photographer's directions, going so far as to shove her tongue into his mouth. She then made a delusional comment about the two of them being in a relationship, which is absurd considering how uncomfortable he is with her advances. She has also physically assaulted him. Adrien, please show him your arm."

Hesitant, Adrien held up his left arm to show the torn sleeve, red nail marks that were several centimeters long, and blood was seeping from the wounds. Felix heard his uncle's sharp inhale. "Anything else?" His uncle's voice was so cold, it made his back straighten just a bit more.

"She has broken my camera and ruined both outfits for the photoshoot!" Vincent said, practically crying as he held up his damaged camera. "_Mi dispiace, Signore Agreste, _but I cannot work with this girl anymore. She is a horrible model, refuses to take direction, a complete diva with no talent. I cannot, and will not, force her presence on Adrien, my staff, or any other model."

"Mlle. Rossi," Gabriel's voice was cold and angry as he spoke, leaving no room for argument. "Not only have you done thousands of euros worth of damage at a photoshoot you were not hired to model, you have thought so highly of yourself that you think you have the right to touch my son? The Gabriel brand has no tolerance for sexual harassment and will no longer employ you. You are hereby fired and will be billed for the damages you have done today. You can expect your walking papers to be delivered to your home within the hour."

"WHAT? You can't do this!" She screamed at the phone.

"Mlle. Rossi, it is only because you are a minor that I am willing to let you walk away with some dignity. Do not test me."

"But you said I was your muse! You can't just throw me away like this! I won't let you!" Lila shrieked as her face turned redder. Felix barely spared a glance at the crowd, but it was enought to see that they were favoring Gabriel's decision and any posts that were made would go against Lila and not the brand. Still, even without factoring the crowds opinion, he could not believe the idiocy of the girl in front of him, speaking to his uncle like that.

"Nathalie, schedule a press release immediately." Gabriel said in his cold, disconnected voice. "It will be announced that the Gabriel brand will no longer be associated with Mlle. Rossi due to her actions. That we shall be filing assault and sexual harassment charges against her, as well as charges for property damage, totally up to €5000 for the clothing and camera. We shall also be filing a restraining order against her, I do not want her anywhere near my son. Adrien, have your bodyguard escort her off of the set. Should she resist, call the police and have her arrested."

With every word he said, Felix watched Lila's expression fall. Because of the coming press conference, denouncing her and her actions, she would be blacklisted from every major industry in Europe, the UK and possibly the Americas. The weight of the matter seemed to have shocked her into a stupor, since she didn't say a single word as Adrien's bodyguard escorted her from set with the crowd cheering at her removal.

"Felix," Gabriel said over the phone, and he turned the device to see the screen. "Thank you for alerting me, this could have harmed the brand and I will not allow Adrien to be harmed in such a way."

"Of course, Uncle. Although, it was Marinette who suggested that I contact Nathalie to alert you as to what was happening." He said honestly before turning the phone back to Marinette. The girl in question was comforting Adrien while one of the assistants bandaged Adrien's arm.

"I see. Vincent," he said, gaining the photographer's attention. "Did you get any useful shots that do not include Mlle. Rossi?"

"None of the photos with Mlle. Rossi are worth mentioning, I would not dare to submit a single one. I was able to get a few of Adrien on his own. However, the photos of M. Culpa and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, _molto bene!_ I could not have asked for better talent for this shoot. And Mlle. Dupain-Cheng is wearing the most _bella _design. _Signorina, per favore, vieni qui._"

Marinette seemed to understand what Vincent wanted, and went over to stand beside the photographer. Gabriel examined the outfit she wore and Felix didn't bother to keep the smug grin off his face as she blushed under the scrutiny of the designer. When he asked questions about her design, she answered easily as she was in her element. By the end and having done a few turns, Gabriel spoke again.

"Vincent, send me the photos, I will look over them later. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, I thank you for having the fore thought to contact me before the situation got too out of hand." Then, without saying goodbye, the call ended and Felix put his phone away.

"You actually got my Uncle to say 'thank you', that's quite an accomplishment." Felix smirked at her.

"Marinette," the two of them turned to Adrien, his arm having been skillfully treated and bandaged. "Thank you, for what you did. I know that you're probably still upset with me and you have every right to be. But with Lila, I just… I couldn't take-"

"What she was doing to you was not right." She said matter-of-factly, taking one of Adrien's hands in hers. "You had every right to push her away, and she's lucky that I didn't do anything to her. You and Felix both know how I feel about stuff like this."

_Oh, yes. I will never make a mistake like that ever again._ Felix thought, remembering the sting to his cheek from nearly a month ago. Adrien seemed to remember that just as easily, since he sent a wry look in his direction.

"And like I told you, you are my friend. I would never have been able to stand by and let that happen to you."

He could swear that Adrien was close to tears as he smiled, giving Marinette's hand a squeeze before letting it go. "Thank you. And we should probably get away from here. I have a feeling that Lila is probably going to get akumatized again and we'll be the focus of her anger. I'd rather not be easy to find when that happens."

**AN:This chapter is slightly reminiscent of of my other story _Not your Sketchbook, _but I was writing this story/chapter before I did that one. I think the biggest and most terrible thing that could happen to Lila would be her future in high society/becoming famous being ruined because she couldn't keep her hands to herself. Gabriel Agreste may be a bastard, villan, and a terrible father; but he's not going to let the public find all of that out. And Lila made such a public scene, he had no choice but to fire her and side with his son, or else it could have harmed his brand. Wouldn't all of you agree? Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

***We've had our salt, now it's time for a little sugar to the story that I do not own.**

They quickly got Marinette back home with the instruction of locking herself away where Lila wouldn't be able to find her. Felix and Adrien were being driven home when an akumatized Lila came after them. Decked out in orange and black evening wear, she was calling herself Talent Scout.

Felix and Adrien escaped the confines of the car as their bodyguard did his best to keep the akuma at bay. Adrien quickly disappeared around the corner but Felix glanced back in time to see the akuma kiss the bodyguard on the lips, and then fling him aside with unexpected strength. When the bodyguard attempted to grab her again, she easily shook him off as her eyes zeroed in on him and he was forced to run.

From what he understood of akumas after living in Paris for over a month, her kissing the bodyguard must have something to do with her power. And given what she was calling herself, she must be able to steal someone's skills when she kissed them. If her lips caught his, he was pretty sure which talent she would be going for since she would need his fighting skills to go against Ladybug and Chat Noir.

The strength must have also made her faster, since she caught up to him very quick. With the hope that the superheroes were on their way, and that Ladybug would be willing to help him after the debacle he had caused during their last meeting, Felix concentrated on avoiding the akuma's lips. She actually got pretty close, but before her lips could make contact, a red and black foot caught Talent Scout in the chin and sent her flying into a car that had been abandoned during the fight.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'no means no'? I mean, really Lila, this is the second time you've had a power that centered around kissing someone." Ladybug said, her eyes especially hard as she stared at the akumatized girl.

She screamed in anguish, not even bothering to demand the miraculous before charging at the hero. Ladybug easily dodged and blocked kicks and punches that were thrown in her direction. Even with the added strength, it was clear that Ladybug was far more skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Seeming to get frustrated, Talent Scout switched directions to go after Felix, likely realizing that she needed his skills to be on equal footing as the spotted hero. Felix might not have gotten out of the way in time if Chat Noir hadn't gotten to him first and moved him far out of the line of kissing.

"Not this time, Lila," Chat said as he deposited Felix behind some cars some distance away before jumping back into the fray.

Now stationed behind cover, he was able to observe the fight without being in too much danger. He noticed that there was less flirtatious banter between the heroes as they got into the fight. Their teamwork was strong as they weaved in and around each other, but they didn't seem to be as gentle with this akuma as they had been with Alya, Rose, and Juleka when they had been akumatized. When Chat hit the girl in the stomach with his staff like a cricket bat, Felix couldn't help but wince. The two heroes were apparently over dealing with the girl and her antics.

Ladybug called for her Lucky Charm and ended up with a fishing pole. Much like before, Felix had no idea how such a random item was supposed to help them beat an overpowered villain. Then Ladybug ran over to the Seine, not far from where he was hiding, and cast the line while Chat Noir ran interference. Not even a minute later, she gave the pole a hard yank and a fish came flying out of the water. Chat ducked at just the right time for Talent Scout to get hit smack on the lips by the fish. He nearly laughed as the akumatized girl dropped to the street and started flopping around as if trying to swim on land. Chat reached down to easily retrieved the purple bracelet from her wrist and Cataclysm the piece of jewelry, releasing the tainted butterfly for Ladybug to purify before casting Miraculous Ladybugs.

Talent Scout disappeared in a ripple of purple magic, leaving Lila still wearing the torn dress and a spiteful scowl on her face, which quickly smoothed over when she looked up at the two heroes. "Oh no! Did I get akumatized? How could this have happened? I am so sorry Ladybug. I swear I'll do better in the future."

Felix highly doubted if anyone present believed her. Ladybug and Chat Noir sure didn't seem like they did. Waving her off, the two heroes approached Felix with kind smiles. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright, Chat Noir got me to safety before her lips could make contact," he assured them before turning to check on Marinette. He wasn't far from the bakery and wanted to make sure that the akuma hadn't gone after her before coming after him and his cousin.

Giving a nod, Ladybug was preparing to swing away via yo-yo when Chat called out to her, also gaining Felix's attention. "Wait, M'Lady! Can I speak with you for a minute. I promise not to hold you up for too long, but this is really important."

The spotted hero seemed to realize that her partner was serious and removed her hand from her yo-yo.

"M'Lady, I'm sorry for all the times I tried to force my feelings on you. For all the times I let my desire to be close to you distract you during akuma attacks. And I promise I'll try to do better. I can't promise that I'll stop using nicknames or telling jokes, that's just who I am. But I'll try to keep the jokes to after the akuma has been defeated, and if one of my nicknames make you uncomfortable, just tell me and I won't use that one again."

Ladybug stared at him for a long moment, only being brought out of her stupor when her earrings beeped, alerting her that she only had two minutes left. "Thank you, Chat. I really appreciate that. But can I ask what brought this on?"

The cat hero scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes in embarrassment. "Let's just say that I recently had to deal with someone who didn't respect my personal boundaries. And the thought that I might be doing that to you made me sick, I'd never want to make you feel that way, M'Lady."

She gave him a watery smile before wrapping her arms around him. "You have never made me feel like that, Chat. I will always be your Lady, just like you'll always be my kitty, okay?"

Giving a nod and a final squeeze, he gave her a two finger salute and the heroes parted ways. And Felix, having been caught up in seeing the two heroes interact, continued on his way back to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He was just approaching the front door when it burst open and Marinette barrelled into his chest with her arms wrapping around him.

"You're okay! I was worried about you."

He barely understood her garbled words as she spoke into his chest, but he still heard her. Not bothering to hide his smile, Felix wrapped his arms around the smaller girl; enjoying the show of affection that a month ago, he wasn't sure he would have ever received.

**AN: I really think this is something Chat Noir/Adrien would do for Ladybug after the last chapter. He cares about his lady and doesn't want to make her uncomfortable the way Lila made him feel, but he would still want to tell jokes and us nicknames. And Ladybug/Marinette really would appriciate it. This is also a way to leave the playing field clear for Felix and Marinette. What do you think about Chat's confession to Ladybug? Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

***I may not own MLB or any of it's characters, but I do enjoy writing about them.**

The following week, Felix and Adrien waited inside the bakery, enjoying some pain du chocolat while they waited for Marinette to come down. After the incident at the photoshoot, Adrien and Marinette had a very in-depth talk over the weekend. She later told Felix that she was glad for the talk, since it gave her some closure and now she really could be just friends with Adrien.

When she finally came down the stairs, Felix couldn't help but smirk with satisfaction at the design he had chosen for her to wear today; a light blue sundress with white lace at the hem and a cinched waist. She wore a pearl white long sleeve, open front, half shirt over top that came down to the wrists. In all, she looked like a clear spring sky, with her smile as bright as the sun.

She gave a quick goodbye to her parents, grabbing a croissant on the way out, and the three of them continued to school, chatting happily with each other.

"My father was impressed with how you did, Marinette." Adrien told her as he held out a magazine, already turned to the page with a large photo of her and Felix. The critics were impressed by her design and that someone so young had come up with and created something so intricate. They praised her work and were interested in what she would do in the future.

Marinette blushed as she looked at the glossy photo. The magazine had only come out that morning and she hadn't had a chance to get one yet, seeing it there in front of her was a bit of a shock. What was more shocking was that it was on the opposite page of an article about the fall of Lila Rossi and lawsuits that were on their way. The photos of the Italian girl were anything but flattering, as they were taken when she was clawing Adrien's arm and you could see him bleeding. There were even witness statements on how she had been "_out of control_" and how "_Adrien's reaction was more than justified, he clearly didn't like being touched like that_". Choosing not to dwell on the girl, she returned her attention to the photo of herself and Felix. "It still feels weird seeing myself wearing my designs for a magazine. I never saw myself being the one in front of the camera, you know?"

"It had to be done," Felix said with certainty. "Unless you are willing to wear your designs in front of a camera, you cannot expect others to do so."

"He's right, Marinette," Adrien agreed as the three of them climbed the steps to the school. "And modeling your own designs will only help you in the long run, since it shows confidence in your skills."

By the time they got to class, Felix could sense the discord among their classmates. Lila was fake crying again as she gripped another copy of the magazine in her hands. "...how could they write such lies about me? Adrien and I broke up, but I would never hurt him like they're saying I did. Are they so desperate for attention that they could hurt me like this without taking my feelings into account?"

"That's quite hypocritical coming from you," Felix said clearly enough for the entire class to hear as he and Marinette went to their seats with Adrien close behind. Sitting down, he pulled out his book, prepared to ignore the classroom drama.

"Adrien!" She rushed towards him, ignoring his look of anger. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me. I care about you so much, can't we just-"

"Stop it, Lila!" He snapped at her as he slapped away the hand that was about to touch him while he took a large, unmistakable step away from her. "Stop trying to play the victim in all of this! I am not and never was your boyfriend. I don't even want to be your friend anymore. Just stay away from me!" Adrien then chose to ignore his usual seat beside Nino in favor of the back row on the opposite side of the classroom, away from Lila. Nino, sensing that his bro needed him, went up the steps and sat beside his friend. This also kept the Italian leech from occupying the seat. Felix gave the boy a nod of approval and received one back.

It was impossible for the class to ignore how their _sunshine boy_ had reacted towards her, as they stared with scrutinizing eyes. Realizing that if he was acting like that, the article and Lila's actions were not to be overlooked. Lila seemed to realize that she was losing her grip on the class, but her anger and embarrassment seemed to overrun her common sense as she turned on Marinette. "Why do you have to keep bullying me," she continued to sob. "If you hadn't forced your way on set to try and show off your design, none of this would have happened. You are so cruel! Why do you hate me so much?"

Before Marinette could say anything, Felix reached over with his free hand beneath the table and took her hand, giving it a light squeeze to calm her and signal for her to not say anything. Her grip was stiff for a moment before she gave her answering squeeze. It was a relief that she would not rise to the bait that the Itlaian liar was all but flinging in her face, but it was mostly because _he _wanted to say something.

"From where I sit, everything you say holds no merit," he told the girl without looking up from his book ot letting go of Marinette's hand. "You and Adrien had spent hours on that photoshoot, despite _you _not being scheduled or invited to that shoot. Marinette and I only came on set at _your _behest, as you were asking for my advice. It was the photographer that decided to photograph us, and it was Uncle Gabriel's decision to us our limited photos rather than the ones taken of you and his son over the course of the _entire_ afternoon. None of which is Marinette's fault. The only thing that she is guilty of is having more skill when it comes to fashion, despite your opinion of her designs being 'childish'."

There were murmurs of agreement around the room, even from those who were avid supporters of the Italian liar. The girl continued to fume and spout fake tears as she sat down heavily in her seat when Mme Bustier entered the classroom.

Later in the day, Marinette noticed that she had left a textbook in her locker and asked permission to go retrieve it. Mme Bustier sent her off and was about to continue the lesson when Lila asked to be excused to the restroom. The teacher, distracted by trying to get back to her lesson missed the hateful scowl on Lila's face as she was excused. Felix did not miss it, nor did he trust the girl leaving the room right after Marinette. Without even asking to be excused, he left the room the moment the teacher's back was turned. When he arrived just outside of the locker room, he was glad that he had followed after them. Pulling out his phone, he began to record everything.

Marinette had been backed against the locker and her right wrist was twisted in Lila's white knuckled grip. "...you just can't keep your nose out of my business and you keep trying to ruin everything, you selfish bitch!" She spat in a cold voice, that was quiet enough to not draw attention but loud enough that Felix, and his phone, could pick up every word. "If you had gone along with everything I said, or been a stupid sheep like the rest of the class, I wouldn't have to do this. It's your own stupid fault, you no talent cow." She twisted Marinette's wrist a fraction more, causing the girl to whimper. Felix resisted the urge to interfere, knowing that they would need this evidence against Lila and that Marinette knew how to defend herself.

"I'm not going to play nice anymore, or stop with just making your friends hate you. I'm going to make your life so miserable, I'll make everyone think you'll be the next school shooter, or maybe I'll get you akumatized over and over again until you go insane! After that, I hope you kill yourself. It's not like anyone's going to miss you anyway. After all," a cruel smile twisted her lips, "you're such a problem child with a record for bullying, inappropriate behavior, and now fighting in school."

She gave a hard twist to Marinette's wrist, making the girl cry out, and Felix had had enough. Rushing forward, he shoved Lila away, uncaring of where she fell. He had more important things to worry about. Marinette's wrist was already turning different colors from Lila's grip as she failed to hold back tears.

He heard Lila stand up behind him and brush off her clothes. "You better not tell anyone. I got Marinette expelled once, don't think for a second that I can't do the same to you." Then she was sauntering off, like she hadn't just finished threatening two people.

Luckily for him, she hadn't noticed his phone, or that it had been recording the entire time. He stopped the recording and pocketed his phone, so angry that he knew that he was probably a prime akuma victim at the moment. But he couldn't afford to be angry at that moment, Marinette needed him, not some vengeful monster. After taking some deep breaths to calm himself down, he looped an arm around her waist to help her to her feet and began walking her towards the nurse's office.

"Why didn't you fight back? You know how to get out of a hold like that, so why didn't you?" He asked in frustration.

"She… If I had, she would have used it against me and say that I attacked her." He could barely make out her words through her pained sobs, but he knew she was right. The class may have been on the fence about Lila after the article, but Lila was skilled at manipulation and Marinette didn't have proof to back up her claim of the attack. But Felix did.

He called Marinette's parents as soon as he got her to the nurse, telling them that there had been an incident and they needed to get to the school right away. The nurse did a quick exam; saying that Marinette had twisted her wrist very badly, that it was likely sprained or even broken, and she should be taken to the hospital. Felix took multiple photos of her wrist, which had already swollen to twice its size and had turned a worrisome shade of purple and blue.

M. Damocles brought Marinette's parents to the nurse's office a little while later, having been alerted by the nurse that one of the students needed medical attention. Tom and Sabine were rightfully upset and sent the staff out of the room to speak to their daughter, Felix remained with them.

"M. Dupain, Mme Cheng, I beg your indulgence for a moment," he asked politely, even though it was taking everything he had not to hunt Lila down and drag her to the police for what she had done. But if he wanted to protect Marinette, he had to do it right, and that had to start here at the school with her parents. To his relief, Tom smiled kindly to him and nodded for him to continue. "I was there for the majority of the incident and saw everything that happened. Lila Rossi attacked and threatened her. The reason I did not intervene is because I chose to record the incident on my phone and because I know Marinette is capable of defending herself. Because of that decision, she was badly hurt. I blame myself for that and would understand if you did-"

Before he could finish, Sabine had wrapped him in a warm hug. Felix hadn't even realized that he had been on the verge of crying, or that his entire body had been quaking, until she had wrapped her arms around him. He accepted the comfort gratefully, it had been too long since he had seen his mother and had been in need of motherly affection. The fact that such a wonderful woman had offered it to him, was a relief.

He patted her back and stepped away after a moment; noticing the kind, yet still pained smile, of the girl he had come to love. The hug and her smile, filling him with a warmth he had not felt in a long while.

"Here's what we are going to do," Sabine told them, her voice filled with authority. "Tom, I want you to go with Marinette to the hospital. We'll be along after everything is done. Felix, you and I are going to go have a _chat_ with M. Damocles. I've had a bone to pick with this school since the last incident and I'll be damned if they try to pull the same stunt again."

Not long after that, Marinette and Tom were loaded into an ambulance on their way to the hospital. Felix and Sabine were walking tall into M. Damocles' office. Sabine took a seat in front of the desk while Felix stood behind her. "You better have a good explanation as to why my daughter is currently on her way to the hospital."

"We are currently investigating the matter," he said, trying to placate the woman, only for Felix to interrupt.

"Then allow me to make it easy for you. I witnessed nearly the entire incident. Lila Rossi attacked Marinette Dupain-Cheng, threatened her, and twisted her wrist which caused the injury. Lila was the instigator and Marinette did not even attempt to defend herself. That being the case, we demand that you call Mme. Rossi to the school to resolve this matter."

"M. Culpa, you have no right to demand such things from a woman of Mme. Rossi's status. It is up to my-"

"Now see here!" Sabine interrupted before Felix even had a chance, standing from her seat as she leaned over the desk to glare at the startled man. "My daughter has been put in the hospital during the time when _you _are supposed to be responsible for her safety and well being. And when you have a student stepping forward as a witness, you disregard him without even doing a proper investigation? THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!" As Sabine leaned farther over the desk, Felix watched the principal lean farther back into his chair and began to sweat. "Let me make something very clear to you, M. Damocles. I know for a fact that you did not do a proper investigation when you prematurely expelled my daughter before. If you attempt to gloss over the investigation again, my first call will be to my the School Board's lead investigator, who happens to be a close friend of mine and absolutely adores Marinette. The next call will be to Nadja Chamack, another close friend of mine who frequently has Marinette babysit her own daughter. Now you better get on the phone and get Mme. Rossi here right now, before I make my own calls and get you fired for negligence and blacklisted from ever working in the educational system again!"

Felix hardly suppressed his shock at Mme. Cheng's outburst, but he couldn't argue with the results. As it was, M. Damocles couldn't seem to dial fast enough as Sabine lowered herself back into her seat. And when the first number he called went directly to voicemail, rather than explain that to the angry woman in front of him, he called the Italian Embassy directly and was immediately transferred to Ambassador Rossi's desk. As he spoke to the woman on the line, Sabine turned to look at Felix and gave him a subtle wink. He couldn't help but smirk at that, realizing exactly where Marinette got her fiery personality.

**AN: I don't know about the rest of you, but I can see Lila resorting to physical violence if she was pushed to this point. Now, she has set up all her dominos and the first one in the row got tipped when she made the mistake of assaulting Adrien and mouthing off to Gabriel. We see the next few getting knocked over and since Felix has evidence, Marinette is seriously hurt, and Sabine is pissed. Don't worry, you will see some serious fall out coming soon! Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**

**AN2: I based Sabine's reaction off of an incident that happened when I was younger. I got hurt in school (broken finger early in the day) and no one reported it to my parents despite telling the teacher multiple times during the course of the day. My parents didn't find out until they picked me up from the sitter around 6pm and I nearly passed out when my mother took my hand in hers. She could tell at a glance that something was seriously wrong (black and purple finger that was twice the size of my thumb, doctor said it was broken and should have been set hours ago). My mother was absolutely furious and blew up at the teacher and principal since they ignored me. Their excuse was "it didn't look that bad", which didn't go over well.**


	10. Chapter 10

***Be prepared for some righteously angry women in this story that I do not own. I think you all will enjoy this!**

They didn't have to wait long before Mme. Rossi came rushing into the office. Taking a moment to collect herself, she politely greeted M. Damocles and introduced herself to Mme. Cheng before taking her seat.

"I must say that I am confused about what is going on," she says as she sits down in the free chair. "My daughter is an angel and would never be involved in a fight, this must be some kind of mistake."

"I'm afraid not," M. Damocles tells her as he flips open Lila's file. "This altercation involves the same student as before, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"What are you talking about?" Her brow creased in confusion. "Lila never said anything about an altercation here at school. And if something like that had happened, I would have expected a phone call."

Felix suppressed his scowl, wanting to say something but knowing that it was not his place. Luckily, Mme. Cheng had no such qualms. "It was over a month ago. My husband and I watched M. Damocles call your contact number multiple times, he left just as many messages. Lila claimed that my daughter pushed her down the stairs and stole a family heirloom of yours, a foxtail necklace."

"My daughter was pushed down the stairs! Was she taken to the hospital?" When M. Damocles hesitated to answer, Mme. Rossi surprise turned to a scowl as she looked back and forth between the two adults. "You should have contacted me! What number do you have listed?" She demanded from M. Damocles then turned to Mme. Cheng, her expression becoming confused again. "And what do you mean 'family heirloom'? She doesn't have anything like that. The only foxtail necklace she has was given to her by her boyfriend, Adrien, after we first moved to Paris."

_Now that is something I can speak up about._

"I beg your pardon, Mme. Rossi, but my cousin is most certainly not dating your daughter. Marinette and myself were both present last Friday when she sexually and physically assaulted Adrien. My uncle immediately fired her and is in the process of filing a restraining order against her." There was a bit of satisfaction when he saw the woman sputtering in shock before righting herself. Apparently, she had no idea about her daughter's actions since she had arrived in Paris.

"She told me that the magazines were exaggerating their break-up…" another pause and her eyes turned hard as she looked back to the principal. "Let me see that contact number." Holding out her hand, he handed her the file for her to look over. Her brow creasing deeper as she read the file. "The number listed here is _Lila's_ phone number, not mine. And my email address is wrong, it's supposed to be '.gov', not '.com'. And what's all this about 'medical disabilities'? Arthritis, tinnitus, a sprained wrist, a disease that _makes her lie_? Are you serious?" She looks up at the principal in disbelief. "This is all wrong, Lila is the picture of health! Hardly ever missed a single day of school! The longest she has ever been out of school was for those two months when the school was closed for akuma attacks."

M. Damocles' expression turned hard, gaining back some of his confidence in the situation as he stared at the Italian ambassador. "Our school never closed, Mme. Rossi. We received an excuse, _supposedly_ signed by you," he pointed at the file, "excusing Lila from school for over two months while you and she were abroad in the kingdom of Achu. If you are telling me that Lila was not abroad, I will have no choice but to have her case turned over to the truancy office for investigation. And given the amount of time she was truant, the likely forgery of your signature and multiple doctors' notes in that file, I believe they will likely push for the maximum punishment."

Felix hadn't known what to expect from Mme. Rossi before she arrived, possibly a woman that was ambassador in name but not merit, but it would seem that he was mistaken. As the woman continued to look through her daughter's file, becoming more angry with every page she read, it became clear that Mme. Rossi was a woman who truly loved and had trusted her daughter, but would not stand for her trust being betrayed. With everything that was coming out about Lila's lies in such a short time, it was somewhat understandable that the current incident would lose focus and leave the two of them being ignored. Mme. Cheng, however, was not about to let that happen.

"Are you kidding me!" She yelled, slamming both of her hands on the desk and making everyone jump. "You _expelled my daughter in front of her entire class_ because of the word of that liar? You didn't even have Lila properly checked out by a doctor. What if she _had_ been seriously hurt? I highly doubt that you did _any_ kind of follow-up investigation afterwards, or else Mme. Rossi would have already been made aware of what was going on with her own daughter. This entire situation literally should have been taken care of weeks ago. But because you did nothing, my daughter is now in the hospital with a possible broken wrist because of that girl!"

"I'm going to stop you right there!" The ambassador turned an indignant look to Mme. Cheng. "I will not deny that the school has _clearly_ mishandled the situation by not getting a hold of me directly after the first incident. With everything that has happened, Lila is in for a _very _rude awakening. But… I still find it hard to believe that she would attack someone. Lying, that is perfectly evident, but attacking your daughter…"

Just as she was trailing off, Felix cleared his throat and held up his phone. He turned the volume all the way up to guarantee that all three adults would hear every word. The video played, clearly showing Lila holding Marinette's wrist as she threatened and verbally abused the girl, subsequently confessing to lying to the class. When she threatened to push the girl to suicide, all the adults were equally horrified, before they watched Lila very purposely twist Marinette's wrist, her cry of pain making Felix cringe. The camera lost focus and picture for a moment when Felix had run in to push her away, then came to a stop on the locker room ceiling. He held up a finger, indicating them to wait a moment, and Lila spoke again, this time threatening to get Felix expelled just as she had done to Marinette if he told anyone.

There was a silent pause as the recording came to an end, no one being able to deny that the recording was of that day since Marinette had been wearing her own original design for the first time and Felix wouldn't have had the time or opportunity to doctor the recording.

And then the two women exploded; Mme. Cheng going off about how the school would not dare to try and sweep this under the rug to save face since they hadn't given her daughter that courtesy before. Mme. Rossi was going off on M. Damocles for failing to get a hold of her during the first incident, otherwise she could have rectified this situation before it could have escalated to this.

The principal looked absolutely overwhelmed as he shrunk under the onslaught of the two righteously furious women. All he could do was tell Felix to return to class while he discussed how they would be proceeding with Mmes. Rossi and Cheng. He did as instructed, finally able to let out a relieved breath as soon as he was in the hallway.

He was halfway back to class when his phone chimed with a message from Adrien, which he read quickly and replied nearly as fast.

**Adrien: **_What's going on? Lila's in class, crying that Marinette attacked her in the locker room._

**Felix: **_Not surprising, although the truth of the matter is the reverse. Marinette has been taken to the hospital and Ambassador Rossi is having a VERY heated discussion with Mme. Cheng and M. Damocles. Lila will not be able to avoid punishment this time._

**Adrien: **_WTF?! No! Screw taking the high road. She DEFINITELY isn't getting away with this. _

Felix paused after reading that, a thought coming to mind to show the rest of the class exactly what type of person they had been following.

**Felix: **_How would you like to help me show the class the truth about Mlle. Lie-la Rossi?_

Just as he suspected, he hardly had to wait a few seconds before his cousin replied. A vindictive smirk stretching across his lips as he read it.

**Adrien: **_Tell me what to do._

**AN: I can't say if this is canon for Mme. Rossi, as we have only really seen her once for about 10 seconds during one episode of the show. But I think the moment she found out that her "angel" had been manipulating her, the politician would emerge and she would be beyond furious at what her daughter had been doing behind her back and thinking how it would blow back on her career. As ambassadors are representatives of thier countries, they do a lot to make sure that they are preceived in a good light. What Lila has done might not cost an ambassador their job right away, but they might end up transferred to a less desirable location pretty quickly. What do you think? Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

***I don't own the story. AND NOW, FOR THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR...**

Just as Adrien had described, Lila was sobbing crocodile tears about how Marinette had attacked her in the locker room, threatened her, and said that she had purposely gotten Lila fired because she was jealous. Much to Felix's great relief and amusement, it seemed like the majority of the class had doubts about what she said. Chloe blatantly scoffed at the girl, so Sabrina was doing so as well. Alya didn't seem to believe that her best friend would hurt someone like that, especially after what had happened between Lila and Adrien earlier that day. Nino was scowling at Lila, backing up his girlfriend. Juleka, Rose, and Mylene were looking anywhere but at Lila, seeming very uncomfortable. Alix was whispering to Kim about how Lila said Marinette beat her up, but there wasn't a mark on her. Max whispered back the likelihood of Marinette actually hurting someone, which was just barely over 1% and was only that high due to her fighting skills. Adrien was standing as far from the liar as he could without leaving the classroom. Mme. Bustier had a worried expression as she comforted Lila.

Ignoring everyone's questioning glances, he walked over to stand next to his cousin. "Is Marinette okay?" Adrien asked him in a hushed voice.

"Her father went with her to the hospital, Mme. Rossi and Mme. Cheng are speaking with M. Damocles at the moment. I do not doubt that they shall be making an appearance soon." Felix told him, making sure that no one else would hear. It would not have been wise to alert Lila of her coming demise so she could make an excuse to run away. The girl in question had not missed the exchange with his cousin and sent him, what she probably thought was, a devastating glare. Felix easily countered her with a look of discontent. He was well aware of the freight train that was about to run her down, all he had to do was wait a few more minutes.

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal M. Damocles, Mme. Cheng, and finally Mme. Rossi, whose expression had smoothed to something that even Felix found difficult to read. Lila apparently had not expected to see her mother and faltered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure as she continued to lie.

"Mama, it was so horrible," she sobbed as she threw her arms around her mother, not noticing that she did not hug her back. "Marinette, she *hiccup* she's so mean. She pushed me against the lockers and started hitting me. *sob* I was so scared, Mama."

"_Stai 'zitto! Non osare mentirmi!" _Mme. Rossi yelled at her daughter, causing Lila to jump away, too shocked to keep up the fake tears.

"M-mama?"

"You are in big trouble, young lady!" She yelled, backing Lila into a chair. "I just finished having a _very_ _interesting _discussion with your principal and Mme. Cheng. You told me that the school was closed for two months because Ladybug and Chat Noir were so incompitent that they couldn't capture a single akuma. But no, you told the school that we were in Achu! That makes you truant, do you have _any idea_ the kind of fines your father and I could be charged because of you being out of school for two months?"

Felix looked on with satisfaction as Lila sputtered, as if trying to come up with a new lie that the school, her classmates, and her mother would believe. The class, hearing that Lila thought that her favorite heroes were incompitent, looked on in anger. Alya seemed ready to smack the girl, but held back because adults were present. Just as Lila was about to speak, her mother cut her off to continue her tirate.

"And what is all this about you having different diseases and disabilities? I know for a fact that your hearing is fine, you've never had arthritis, and the only time you ever sprained _anything _was your finger when you were five years old! The only thing you claim to have that may be true is your _lying disease._ That's known as being a pathological liar, and I _will_ be taking you to a doctor for that very soon. Especially since your lying got another student expelled! But if that's not enough you actually _threatened_ to get another student expelled, that is completely inexcusable! And care to explain to me about the _restraining order_ being filed against you? Hmm?"

Lila sat frozen in her seat as the rest of the class began putting everything together.

"So, she doesn't know Prince Ali and hasn't been helping him with his charity work in Achu?" Rose asked, somewhat timidly.

"She has never met the prince, and the only countries she has ever been to would be Italy, France, and Britain." She said staring down her daughter, daring her to try and interrupt.

"What about saving Jagged Stone's kitten from being run over by an airplane?" Juleka asked as she glared at the girl, already knowing the answer.

Mme Rossi groaned as she pressed her fingers to her temple, as though trying to stave off a headache. "She hates Jagged Stone's music, unlike _me._ I've been a fan of his music for years, and I can say with great certainty that he has had Fang, his crocodile, for longer than any of you have been alive and has never had any other pet. And even if there _had_ been a kitten on the tarmac and she somehow saw it; there is no way she would have been able to get past security, run across the tarmac, and gotten to the kitten before an airplane traveling 240 km per hour ran it over. Not only that, she would have been _arrested under suspision of terrorism_ because it is highly illegal for unauthorized personel to do be on a tarmac."

The ambassador then turned a glare at Mme. Bustier. "Really? I'm appauled that you would let someone say something like that in your classroom without correcting them. Is that the kind of example you're setting in your classroom? It seems like I'm going to have to talk to the school board about you as well," she said before turning her glare back to her daughter, who was still shaking in her seat.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Mama. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble. I just wanted to fit in. I'll take my punishment and go to detention. Please forgive-"

"You think an 'I'm sorry' and going to detention is going to fix this? Wrong! Because of what you've done, you're now facing harassment and assault charges for sending Mlle. Dupain-Cheng to the hospital! Her wrist might be broken after what you've done!"

"I beg your pardon, Ambassador Rossi." The woman's head snapped to a very determined looking Adrien Agreste. "My father isn't only filing a restraining order against her. He is also filing suits for sexual harassment, assault, and property damage for breaking the photographers camera and damaging pieces of my father's new clothing line," the blonde explained as he held up his bandaged arm for her to see what her daughter had done to him.

Felix hadn't thought the woman could have gotten any angrier. Oh boy, was he ever wrong. The ambassador started yelling at her daughter in Italian, speaking so quickly that he was having difficulty keeping up. He could only catch bits and pieces, but one of the big ones seemed to be accusing Lila of putting her mother's career in danger from all the charges being put against her, which she and her husband were going to have to answer for since Lila was a minor.

Then came the moment where Lila seemed to have enough. Puffing out her chest, she stood from her seat and got into her mother's face. "Oh, who cares? It's not like the school or the police can do anything to me. You're an ambassador, which means I've got diplomatic immunity!"

"You're half right," Mme. Rossi said, looking down her nose at her own daughter, causing the girl's momentary bravado to fade away. "I am the Italian Ambassador, which grants me diplomatic immunity. However, your father is French, and _you_, young lady, have dual citizenship. Which means that you are subject to the laws of France, just like every other student here. And even if you _had_ diplomatic immunity, I would have had it waved! I will make sure that you face all the charges filed against you by the truancy office, school, Marinette and her family, and Adrien and his family. The only help you will be getting from your father or me will be hiring a lawyer to try and keep you out of jail!"

The color was quickly draining away from the girl's face as she sputtered in fear. "B-but I didn't hurt Marinette! She's been bullying me since I got here! And she really did attack me in the locker room! You've got to believe me!"

Then all at once, phones were chiming through the classroom. With Lila's phone letting out a chime a second later than the others. Alix and Max looked over Kim's shoulders as he pulled up the video that was just sent to him. Ivan held his phone down so Nathanial could see. Juleka and Rose looked over Mylene's shoulders just as she pressed play. Nino and Alya had both received the message, but he chose to share Alya's phone. Chloe acted like she wasn't going to show Sabrina, but then forwarded the message to the redhead.

The entire class stared at their phones in horror as they saw Lila intentionally hurting their everyday Ladybug, threaten to bully her to suicide and akumatization; also threatening to get Felix, they were pretty sure it was him, expelled. Many of the girls erupted into tears. Nino was physically holding Alya back, else she would have attacked the Italian girl, not caring anymore that adults were present. Lila had also received the video, courtesy of Adrien forwarding it to her after Felix had sent out the group message.

Whatever color that had remained in her face quickly drained away as she saw herself twist Marinette's wrist and the girl cry out. Then she looked up at Felix, realizing that he had been the one to record the incident. It was his fault that all of this came out. She was ruined because of him. He saw her face go from paper white to a furious purple before she let out a shriek and tried to attack him. Felix deftly avoided her fists and let the girl trip on the steps and slam into Mme. Bustier's desk. Lila yelped in pain as her face hit the desk and she collapsed to the floor, her nose quickly swelling as it bled.

"I think that's quite enough, Mlle. Rossi," M. Damocles boomed as he stepped forward to stand over the girl. "You were already facing suspension and possible expulsion, pending an investigation, after what you did to Mlle. Dupain-Cheng. But then you had the audacity to attack another student right in front of me? Mme. Rossi, I strongly suggest that you get her out of Paris right away to keep her from being akumatized again. And after what I just saw, I will be pressing for her expulsion rather than suspension after the investigation is complete."

"I understand," she said as she grabbed Lila's bag before reaching down to get her daughter to her feet, then turning to Mme. Cheng with an apologetic expression. "Our lawyer will be in touch to discuss legal proceedings. Let me know if you need anything. And I am so sorry for everything Lila has done to your family. Hopefully after this is done, she will see just how dire certain consequences can be."

Giving a nod in return, the Rossis left the classroom, which had been stunned into silence, barring the occasional sniffle from one of the girls and the muttered curse from Alya. Then Sabine turned to Felix and Adrien. "Would you boys like to come with me to the hospital? I'm sure Marinette would like to hear about this from you more than me."

Adrien gave her a beaming smile while Felix a more subdued smile with a nod. None of them spared a glance at those remaining in the room. They had someone more important that they were on their way to see.

**AN: This was probably the most difficult chapter to write out of the entire story because I wanted to make it as epic but realistic as possible. I wanted Mme. Rossi to rip away every defense that her daughter had, making sure that everyone knew how much of a liar she was. After all, she could have had Lila called to the office, but she chose to have her exposed in front of the entire class, just like her daughter had done to Marinette. And the fact that the class was starting to use common sense after what had happened that morning between Lila and Adrien, just made it that much easier to destroy Lila's empire. Wouldn't you agree? Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

***And here is the end of the story I do not own. I want to thank all of you for giving this story a chance, despite it not being part of the love-square pairings (you wouldn't believe how much hate the trolls sent my way because of that). Enjoy!**

Marinette was kept home from school for three days after what had come to be known as _The Monster's Fall_. Felix and Adrien had been the only two people from class that she had been willing to see for the moment, even though she admitted that she would probably forgive everyone when she returned to class.

She would have come back sooner, but there was the issue of the Dupain-Chengs, Agrestes, the Truancy Office of Paris, and the Rossis meeting outside of Paris with their lawyers. Although the charges weren't finalized, Ambassador Rossi had made it clear that her daughter would be pleading guilty to all the charges filed against her. Then there were the charges that all three families were planning on filing against the school for failing their students, which would be scheduled for a later date.

For the Agrestes, Lila would be paying €4,782 for the camera and clothing that were damaged during the photoshoot. The sexual harassment and assault charges were to go on her police record, but she could petition to have them exponged when she turned 18. The assault charge lent support to the restraining order and Lila was not permitted within 50 meters of Adrien, Felix, Gabriel, or their home for the next 5 years; at which point they could renew the restraining order if they chose to.

Ambassador Rossi had negotiated with the Truancy Office, which resulted in a better outcome for M. and Mme. Rossi than it had for Lila in order for the fine to be reduced from the maximum charge of €750 to €100. Lila's phone and laptop were confinscated and would be sold to help pay for the charges filed against her, if she needed access to the internet, it would be under her parents or teacher's supervision. She had to attend counselling multiple times a week and submit to random psychological testing. She would also be attending after school and summer courses in order to catch up on all the work she missed. And to make sure that Lila didn't attempt to play hookie again, she would have to wear a tracking bracelet until she was 18, and would be confined to her house when she wasn't at school or in the company of her parents. Her parents were also responsible for alerting future schools about Lila's lying habit and were to personally check in at the schools at least once a week to make sure she didn't fall back on old habits.

As for Marinette and her family, that had been much worse than Lila could have expected. Tom and Sabine had brought in receipts for the days they had to close down the bakery early, when Marinette was injured by Lila and when she was wrongly expelled, and compared them to receipts from a year earlier on each date. Forcing Lila to compensate the loss of both days. Then there were Marinette's loses because her sprained wrist kept her from doing any designs or commissions for three weeks. She provided a list of all the commissions she had to discount for late delivery, as well as the ones she lost. All that plus the medical bills and counselling that Marinette would need, at the insistence of their lawyer; totalled to €6,247 that Lila would have to pay to Marinette and her parents. There would also be another assault charge on Lila's record for what she did to Marinette. Their lawyer also insisted on a restraining order that did not permit Lila within 50 meters of Marinette, her parents, or the bakery, and they were already planning on renewing it in 5 years.

There was also a clause in both restraining orders that Lila was not permitted to comment, like, follow, or have any type of interaction with them over social media. This clause had been added at Gabriel's insistance, although it was also implemented for the Dupain-Chengs, because he did not want his business affiliated in any way with Lila Rossi. If she did, she would be charged with stalking, have to pay additional fines, and be put in be put in a juvenile detention center.

By the end of the meeting, with Lila sitting there the entire time, face swollen from a broken nose and not permitted to say a single word or else the court would find her in contempt, she was in shock. She was being forced to pay €11,029 in damages, had two restraining orders filed against her, was being forced to wear a tracking bracelet which would ruin her social life, had lost her phone and laptop, and was being forced to talk to a doctor three times a week until her 18th birthday. And if at any time she failed to follow the mandate, she would be back in court and could be put in juvie. The most she was able to do was glare at her three former classmates across the table. Marinette looked at her with disappointment, Adrien looked disgusted and angry. But felix was the worst, since he had smirked at her during the entire meeting without saying a word.

After dealing with all of that, it was no wonder Marinette had needed an extra day of rest before returning to school. And just like Monday, Adrien and Felix were waiting for her down in the bakery with Sabine offering them samples of different breads and pastries. Today, she was wearing black shorts with soft pink tights, a matching black and pink striped shirt, and black converse sneakers.

Felix relieved her of her backpack as soon as she reached the bottom step and took her uninjured hand in his as the two boys led her out of the bakery and towards the school. He didn't miss the blush that painted her cheeks, and neither did Adrien, if the smile he directed at the two of them was any indication. Adrien had spoken to him before they arrived at the bakery, reiterating that he supported Felix pursuing his friend but that he better not hurt her.

"By the way, Marinette," Adrien said as they reached the school. "My father is interested in getting a look at your sketchbook in the near future. He knows that you can't design right now, but he wants to do a photoshoot of the three of us wearing his designs and yours, so long as it doesn't put a strain on your wrist."

When her hand squeezed his own, Felix couldn't help but give her a knowing smirk. "Really? He wants to see more of my designs? This isn't just to show the public that the Gabriel brand is siding with me and not Lila, is it?"

"Whether that is the reason or not is inconsequential," Felix told her, interrupting her tangent while ignoring the indignant look she threw his way. "This is another opportunity to get your name, face, and designs out there for people to see. And having your designs displayed alongside a Gabriel design will only continue to help you during a time when you are unable to work. You should accept the offer. When you are fully healed, you will have a waiting list of clients that will be aware of your injury and eager to receive an MDC original."

Although she continued to scowl at him, it was more in a way of knowing that he was right and not wanting to admit it. Either way, she never let go of his hand and even gave it another squeeze.

Entering the school, it was hard to miss how a lot of people stopped to stare at the three of them. After _the monster's fall_, word quickly got around the school about Lila's lies, how the three of them had been the only ones that had realized the truth, and how the liar had targeted them. The school was now under investigation as well, with M. Damocles and Mme. Bustier both suspended for negligence until the investigation was complete. From what Felix had heard, the school board had been less than pleased and it was unlikely that either educator would be returning.

When they got to their classroom, Marinette hesitated just outside the closed door. Felix gave her fingers a light squeeze and a nod of encouragement; knowing that she didn't know what to expect, but wanting to assure her that he wasn't going to leave her side. Adrien placed a hand lightly on her shoulder, giving her a kind smile that she easily returned. After taking a calming breath and giving the boys a nod, Felix pushed open the door and they stepped inside… only for Marinette to come to a sudden stop.

The entire classroom was decorated with streamers, a "welcome back" banner, and balloons; all in Marinette's signature pink. On her desk was a pile of cards and gifts that numbered greater than the number of students in the class. Their classmates were holding up the banner themselves, all of them with matching expressions of regret, hope, and a bit of relief.

Marinette continued to stand just inside the doorway in a state of shock, not that he could blame her. Felix and Adrien were in a similar state of surprise. Despite noticing their classmates whispering to each other frequently since Lila had been removed from school, they'd had no idea that they had been planning this. And from the similar piles of gifts on Adrien's desk and his own, it was clear why they had been kept in the dark.

Alya was the first person to approach them, although she was having difficulty meeting her friends' eyes. Standing in front of Marinette, she attempted to speak multiple times and failed to utter a single word. Getting frustrated, Alya pulled out her phone and pulled up the Ladyblog, presenting the device to her friend. Felix looked over Marinette's shoulder as she scrolled down the page.

The reporter had done an expose on Lila and what had happened at the school, posting Felix's video and refuting most every single claim that had previously been posted about Lila and was recently taken down, having finally done her research. To her credit, Alya did not make excuses. She admitted that she had been star-struck by the liar and knew that her credibility had taken a major hit, but she accepted that. It was her own fault and she was going to work even harder to gain her friends' and readers' trust back, and that she fully expects it to take a long time, but she was alright with that.

Neither girl said anything at first, but then Marinette let go of Felix's hand to wrap her arms around Alya in a tight hug that lasted for quite a bit as the two cried. Then other classmates took their turns giving the small designer hugs and tearful apologies. And then, every one of them thanked Adrien and Felix for taking care of and protecting her when they didn't. The substitute teacher came in a few minutes later, as the three of them had begun going through the piles of gifts and cards that had been placed on their desks.

Felix and Adrien had received multiple thank you and apology cards. The sheer number of cards told him that their actions were genuine. They hadn't just bought a single card for everyone to sign, everyone had bought or made their own cards and given him meaningful gifts. The most impressive one was a signed first edition of _Pirate Latitudes_ by Michael Crichton that was in very good condition_,_ no doubt a lot of his classmates had to pitch in to get him the book.

But it was nothing compared to everything that Marinette had gotten. Best guess, the class had raided a craft store and bought anything that they thought she would like, want, or use for her designs. A bolt of pink satin, a bolt of turquoise velvet, a spool of fine black lace, three cream colored spools of angora yarn, a bag of amethyst crystal beads, gift cards to her favorite craft shop, and high quality needles and different color threads. But her gifts were not limited to crafting items. There was a large box of Godiva chocolates, there was enough that she was able to give a piece to everyone in class and still have multiple pieces left for herself. There was also a wrist wrap that could be heated up or cooled, definitely a good thing to have right now.

The rest of the day, their classmates did everything they could to take care of Marinette. Max presented her with notes from the classes she had missed. Kim carried her lunch to their table for her, despite her protests that she could do it herself. But the thing that Felix thought meant the most to her, was that everyone listened to her story when Alix asked her during lunch how she had figured out Lila was a liar. Some people snickered when she admitted to following Adrien and Lila out of the library since those kind of antics had been the norm for her, but they still listened to the end. At which point, Adrien thanked her over and over again for saving his father's book from the junk yard, and the rest of the class apologized all over again.

By the time school was over, Adrien had taken it upon himself to take his and Felix's gifts back home so that Felix could help take Marinette's gifts home. He did so happily; hi s arms full carrying fabric, yarn, and other gifts to her home over the bakery. When they arrived, Sabine looked surprised by the treasure trove of gifts and stood by while Marinette excitedly described each gift, who gave it to her, and read the cards. Felix couldn't help but smile as he sat beside her, glad that he could see her this happy after going through such a traumatic time.

Realizing how late it had become, Sabine offered for Felix to stay for dinner and he gladly accepted. Tom soon joined them after the bakery had closed for the day. Tom challenged his daughter to a fighting game, hoping that he would finally have a chance to beat her, and Felix couldn't help but chuckle as Marinette trounced her father with ease.

Dinner lead to the familiar banter of a tightly knit family that successfully drew him in, his dry humor adding a new spin that everyone seemed to enjoy. After their meal Nathalie called to tell him that Adrien's bodyguard was on his way to pick him up. Marinette volunteered to walk him down, taking his hand as though she always did so, although the slight blush dusting her cheeks told him that she was very aware.

Before the car arrived, Felix decided to pluck up his courage and take a great risk. "Marinette, would you like to go out with me this weekend… just you and me?"

"You mean, like a date?"

He could hear the nervous tremor in her voice, but thought it best to ignore it and his own nerves as he nodded. "Yes, I would like to go on a date with you."

Her blue eyes went impossibly wide for a moment before she gave him the brightest smile he had seen all day. "Y-y-y-yes, I date really would- I mean-"

Before she could continued down her stuttering path, no matter how cute he thought it was, he used their joined hands to ease her into a hug. His heart pounding harder when he heard her sigh.

"If I were to try and kiss you right now, would you slap me?" Felix hadn't meant to say that, it was a thought that had worked its way into his voice. When she let go of his hand, he thought for sure that she was going to feel a sting to his cheek. But then her hand cupped his chin and he felt the soft pressure of her lips against his. It was the sweetest kiss he had ever received, and he wasn't interested in comparing it to anyone else.

**AN: And there it is! I spent a lot of time looking through French truancy laws, fines, legal actions, and all that jazz, to make sure that I got Lila the worst punishment possible while still keeping it realistic. Mme. Rossi did say that she would be doing her best to keep her daughter out of jail, but that isn't to say that if she put a single toenail out of line, that she would end up there anyway. I hope that was a satisfactory punishment for all of you, I might have tried to make it worse, but I figured ruining Lila's empire, social life, and image in every way possible was the best way to go. **

**Decided to end on a sweet note between Felix and Marinette because I can. They really are sweet and more natural by the end of this story and I wanted to showcase that a bit. I hope you all liked the class redemption as well. I know a lot of stories crusify all of them, but not all of them believed that she did it during the _Ladybug_ episode, which means that they doubted Lila. I wanted to give them a chance to shine at the end. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed _Different Ways to Fall._ What was your favorite part of the story? Warm-Fuzzies and please review!**


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